Embedded Librarians to Support Data-management Needs of a Multidisciplinary Research Program

Abstract This paper describes the establishment of a partnership between the Libraries and a multidisciplinary research program, and some of the products and outcomes from immersive and embedded roles within that program. Several factors contributed to the development of this partnership: outreach efforts by the Engineering Library and the Research Data Services to faculty, staff, students, and research administrators; a research program director who has a history of engagement with the Libraries; and the funder’s data management and sharing mandates in the funding opportunity announcement for the research program. The result has been the inclusion of two librarians in the Data Management and Analysis Core of this program, which is expected to continue for the duration of the 5-year funding cycle. This approach yielded the launch of a data management course, and ongoing development of program- and team-specific guidance and strategies to improve data sharing and integration. This paper also shows that these kinds of partnerships can increase the awareness of librarian skills in research data management, support compliance with funder requirements, and enhance the impact and value of research outputs.