UBC Okanagan Library, through the Centre for Scholarly Communication (CSC), and the Irving K Barber Faculty of Science’s Department of Biology have partnered to fund and manage research data and statistical support services. This partnership will support enhanced delivery of services over Term 1 and Term 2 this year.
Starting as a pilot in January 2023, and previously supported in partnership with Research Computing and through the UBC Okanagan Excellence Fund, the CSC has been providing support to UBC Okanagan researchers with data cleaning, modelling, analysis, and visualization, as well as foundational training in software such as R and Python. Data consultants provide this specialized support through one-on-one consultations and themed workshops.
“The fact that the Department of Biology is willing to fund this service for the entire campus for the next year–recognizing the current gap for research data support on our campus and the overwhelming need of this support for their students–says a lot for their commitment to their students and the UBCO research community,” states Data Librarian, Mathew Vis-Dunbar. “And the Centre for Scholarly Communication, with its partners in Advanced Research Computing, Office of Research Services, and UBC Okanagan Library, is uniquely positioned to help fill this gap on our campus.”
Data analysis, coding skills, and associated literacies are increasingly important in all facets of academic research. However, many researchers do not have substantive training in these areas, particularly in disciplines where computational research is still emerging or missing as a core component of their academic training, course work, or professional development.
“Integrating these advanced concepts and tools into a research project can be a monumental leap for graduate students who may have only used Excel and perhaps taken one undergraduate stats course,” says Vis-Dunbar. “The fundamental research data and statistical analysis support and training provided by the CSC can help them thrive. Centralizing these supports through the CSC, which functions as an information hub for research support services at UBC Okanagan, helps to lessen the burden on individual departments encountering similar challenges amongst their students and promotes interdisciplinary communities of practice within our graduate student base.”
Although these services and supports are especially valuable to graduate students, they are open to all researchers at UBCO, irrespective of where they are in their academic career including undergraduate researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty.
Research Data Consultants offer various workshops throughout the academic year including: Learning R, Python for Data Analysis, and Statistical Fundamentals: A Visual Approach. It is recommended that those interested in this support attend one of the CSC’s relevant workshops for research data management before attending a one-on-one consultation. Graduate labs can also reach out to the CSC to discuss options for tailored workshops on any aspect of the research data life cycle.