During my Vollstedt internship as a Data Services Learning Resources Specialist at UO, I found myself immersed in the dynamic world of research data management. My primary responsibilities included preparing Dryad launching at UO, creating LibGuides on best practices for data management, and curating and organizing learning resources related to research data. I really appreciate this internship opportunity as I gained hands-on experience and kept up with the latest trends and advancements in the field of data services.
In the initial weeks, I familiarized myself with the research data services provided, the library data infrastructure, and the various tools employed for data management. Meetings with my mentor, Gabriele Hayden, and other seasoned librarians provided me with valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities within research data management. Based on my interests and expertise, I contributed to developing LibGuides to help researchers understand and master research data management, including Dryad data repository, data publication, how to use DMPTool, and how to write data management plans. These LibGuides have been published on the Research Data Management website.
Another highlight of my internship was the opportunity to help the Graduate College track new publications published by UO’s amazing graduate students and advertise their works in their newsletter during a specific period. The challenge of this project is to track the publications of graduate students as they might not use any author IDs (e.g., ORCID) and might have wrong affiliation information in their works. By using the powerful OpenAlex API, I wrote some Python codes to automatically achieve the goal. I was so excited that I could address an actual problem in the academic setting. The codes have been shared on GitHub so that anyone can reuse the codes for their purposes.
Overall, this experience as a Data Services Learning Resources Specialist provided me with a comprehensive understanding of research data management and also equipped me with valuable skills and insights into this evolving field, which provided a solid foundation for my future endeavors in research data services. I am grateful for the opportunities for growth and learning that this internship has afforded me.