Research Data Services at Yale University

Abstract

Context: Yale University has a long tradition of data services in the social sciences. To keep up with funding agency requirements, disciplinary community standards, and researcher needs, Yale expanded its research data service offerings to the sciences and medicine. Background: In 2012, Yale University Library and ITS participated jointly in the eScience Institute offered by the DLF, ARL, and CLIR. This poster summarizes the strategic agenda from that project as well as the formation of our Research Data Consultation Group (RDCG). Current Services: The Research Data Consultation Group is a collaborative, university-wide group charged with responding to service requests and inquiries from researchers at any stage in the data lifecycle in order to work together on best practices, implement data management services, and help link users to resources. We consult on data management planning; finding and using data; data collection, analysis, and processing; and distributing, sharing, and archiving data. Aim: The aim of RDCG is to meet the needs of researchers who wish to follow and inform disciplinary best practices, meet funder, university, or contract requirements, and also to streamline consultative workflows across several organizations and departments at Yale. Future Directions: Future projects for RDCG include expanded education and training offerings for library, ITS, teaching and learning support staff, and departmental staff, in addition to Yale students, faculty, postdocs, and other researchers. Simultaneously, we will continue our efforts to clarify and support university and other requirements for data management, sharing, and preservation.