Data and Visualization Services A new department in the NCSU Libraries

Upcoming data and visualization workshops Elements of Visualization Design Visualize Your Data With Tableau Tableau II Storytelling with GIS Maps Mapping and Geospatial Visualization with QGIS Basics of Adobe Illustrator for Research Graphics Creating Compelling Infographics R for Absolute Beginners R for Document Creation Data Visualization with R Introduction to Google Analytics Analyzing Qualitative Data Using NVIVO We recognize that data and visualization skills are of growing importance for students and researchers. Our data and visualization workshops are incredibly popular. We offer multiple sessions of some workshops. Many of these are already full and have numerous people on the waiting list. For example, I’m teaching a workshop on Elements of Visualization Design that has 25 people registered and 25 people on the waiting list.

Workshops outside of the Libraries Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management Geospatial Information Science MBA Environmental Technology Nuclear Engineering Digital Humanities Forestry and Environmental Resources Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences Comparative Medicine Institute …and others Partly as a result of these workshops we are receiving increasing numbers of requests for consultations and to teach data and visualization topics in courses. For example we’ve recently spoken to a digital humanities class about metadata and knowledge organization and to a geospatial information science class about GIS metadata. In the past couple of weeks I taught sessions on basic design concepts for data visualization for an Environmental Technology course and an Nuclear Engineering course. The Nuclear Engineering professor had participated in our data visualization for instructors workshop and said that visualization skills are needed by his students but aren’t generally taught as part of their curriculum. Library consultations and instruction are helping to fill that gap.

Data services are provided across the Libraries Research Data Committee Visualization Services Team Collections & Research Strategy Research Engagement branch libraries Digital Library Initiatives Data Projects and Partnerships Many people on different library committees and in several library departments and units provide data and visualization services. It can be challenging to coordinate support for data and visualization across departments, and it can be challenging for students and researchers to find the support they need when our data services are distributed. By creating a department to act as the “front door” for data and visualization services, we will be able to raise the visibility of these services and more easily connect students and researchers with the people in the library who can help them. By bringing together librarians who teach, consult, and develop applications in these areas we will also be better able to respond to the growth in demand and scale up these services.

Service areas for new department Expert consulting and instruction Data visualization GIS and mapping Finding and acquiring datasets Data management Data cleaning and manipulation Data modeling and database design Metadata creation and mapping Data analysis Computing resources for data and visualization work Programs and interdisciplinary discussion groups The department will also help support computing resources for data and visualization work, and will help organize programs and interdisciplinary discussion groups, such as Coffee & Viz and the Research Computing Interest Group.

New spaces for data and visualization Renovation of the Hunt Library’s third floor in spring 2018 Upcoming renovation of D. H. Hill Library Staff in the Data and Visualization Services department will also play an important role managing services and programming in two new spaces the Libraries is creating devoted to data and visualization. The renovation of the Hunt Library’s third floor in spring 2018 and the upcoming D. H. Hill Library renovation both include plans for dedicated spaces to support data and visualization activities. These new spaces will consolidate our specialty computing for GIS, visualization, and programming, which will raise their visibility and facilitate drop-in and small-group consultations. It will also facilitate the development of informal communities of practice in these areas.