DataFlash: Staying Informed

Posted by Ann Madhavan on June 27th, 2018 Posted in: Data Science

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Big data and research data management are evolving quickly and it can be challenging to keep up with developments in the field. Social media is a great way to keep track and to ask questions of colleagues, researchers, and vendors. Below are several links worth checking out…

CANLIB-DATA is a listserv for issues related to research data in Canadian libraries, with more than 350 subscribers.

DataCure “is a Google group of librarians and information professionals whose members have significant roles or responsibilities in providing services in managing or curating research data. Datacure exists to provide a safe space for data professionals to talk frankly about their ideas, projects, successes, and struggles with their work.”¹

Datalibs distribution list is intended to serve as both a bulletin board for news, upcoming events, and continuing education/job opportunities as well as a forum that librarians can use to post questions or to initiate and engage in discussions. Join via the Journal of eScience Librarianship website.

IASST-L  The International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology (IASSIST) is an international organization of professionals working with information technology and data services to support research and teaching in the social sciences. Join IAssist ($50 USD annually) to access their organization’s email discussion list IASST-L.

MLA Data-SIG is the Medical Library Association’s data related special interest group. Membership in the MLA is required to access the SIG list serv.

@NNLM_RD3 is the NNLM RD3: Resources for Data-Driven Discovery website’s Twitter feed. When tweeting, use the #datalibs hashtag to reach out to other data librarians.

RDAP or the Research Data Access & Preservation Summit is relevant to the interests of data managers, data curators, librarians working with research data, and researchers and data scientists. RDAP is currently in transition and has moved its listserv to a new server. RDAP’s new e-mail address may be the best place to inquire about further developments.

RESEARCH-DATAMAN is an email discussion list for United Kingdom education and research communities.

The data science departments on your own campus may also host listservs, Twitter sites, Facebook pages, or blogs. The University of Washington’s eScience Institute is just one example of the data related centers available near the PNR’s home base. If you know of additional data related listservs, Google Groups, or Twitter sites, share them with your colleagues by entering them in the comments section below.

 

¹  Barbrow S, Brush D and Goldman J. (2017). Research data management and services: Resources for novice data librarians; ACRL College and Research Libraries News, 78(5)