The role of federal libraries and federal librarians in research data services (RDS): An exploratory study

This study explores the roles federal (government) libraries and librarians play in scientific (international) knowledge development within federal agencies and in the larger scientific enterprise. In particular, this research looks at libraries’ and librarians’ facilitation of scientific inquiry through the application of research data services (RDS). Currently, librarians’ research and data consultation activities with administrators and researchers typically involve creating citations and finding datasets; less frequently, librarians are engaged in data management planning and other RDS activities. However, federal libraries and librarians have been identified as key stakeholders in collaborative science generally and specifically in scientific data cyberinfrastructures, such as the NSF-funded DataONE Project. “DataONE (Data Observation Network for Earth) enables science through cyberinfrastructure development for data storage, preservation, use, and reuse and by building a ommunity of data literate researchers and information practitioners” (see dataone.org).