Emerging areas for further research and framework development, ripe for collaboration with peers, include establishing our role in data literacy: will clear pathways evolve organically, be formally established or will we continue to negotiate pragmatically with engaged lecturers depending on those competencies with which we are able/qualified to cover? The burgeoning nexus of data discovery, collection and analysis will undoubtedly require the upskilling of library staff, especially those new to this portugal rcs data domain. While some HEIs employ dedicated data librarians, sometimes in addition to established Research Data Management (RDM) units, others view this all as another material type to be managed by subject librarians/site specialists, often with economics and business librarians bearing a disproportionate load given more readily apparent data connections.
Priorities will involve the enhancement of asynchronous tutorials, class-based activity material and, fundamentally, a more adaptive and innovative teaching pedagogy. For example, moving beyond bombarding unsuspecting session attendees with bountiful resources to approaches which incorporate active learning, enquiry-based strategy, experiential learning and data storytelling.
From coordinating numerous resource needs, deriving from and between departments – with their differing levels of engagement, to raising awareness of the rich options available, future activities to improve communication methods will also necessitate the entirely practical. For example, the use of more visible modes for booking individual consultations, social media platforms, localised marketing options and comments from student surveys as ammunition to highlight the need for greater partnership in a ‘data-empowered society’.