Call for pilot course participants: FAIR data for non-data librarians

Posted by elizabethwaltman on December 16th, 2020 Posted in: Continuing Education, Data Science

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NNLM SEA is proud to share an opportunity for joining a pilot course developed by a 2020-2021 Funded Project team from Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Virginia, and George Mason University. Please see below for full details and contact information.

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Are you a health sciences librarian in a public-facing role (for example, a subject specialist or hospital librarian)? Is helping patrons with their research data of interest to you, but not in your current skill set? Do you wish you had more knowledge of data-related issues and also more practical experience working with spreadsheet data?

We are currently accepting applications to pilot an online program called “Building FAIR Habits: Pilot FAIR Data Workshop for Data Novices”. This training opportunity seeks to meet data novice librarians at their comfort levels, in order to increase awareness of concepts like open science and FAIR data. We believe that librarians shouldn’t have to be data experts to introduce patrons to basic data management and open science concepts. We are looking for non-data librarians who want to learn how to talk to patrons about basic ways to preserve and share data. Since this is a pilot and due to the time commitment, each participant will be provided with a small stipend.

Workshop lessons will use examples from library spreadsheets to illustrate how FAIR practices apply to everyday data. Additional lessons will use the familiar library data as a bridge for understanding health assessment and health research data. The program will take place from February through April, 2021, online. Exact dates to be determined.

Brief Description

The program consists of:

1) workshops led by fellow librarians in data-centric roles;

2) online exercises and homework to explore and practice data management concepts;

3) discussions with trainers and fellow participants; and

4) a capstone project by participants to create an outreach or education object of their own (such as a brochure, short video, or LibGuide).

We expect it to take a minimum of 10 hours of lecture and discussion time, plus more time on exercises, homework, and capstone projects.

To Apply:

To apply, please complete this brief form. Preference will be given to librarians at NNLM SEA member libraries. Applications are due January 11.

Questions?

Questions? Please contact Nina Exner, nexner@vcu.edu.