Data Librarians Represent! Integrating Data Services into the Social Science Research Process Lynda Kellam Data Services & Government Information Librarian University of North Carolina at Greensboro Katharin Peter Social Sciences Data Librarian University of Southern California

The aim of this workshop is to begin an ongoing dialogue about incorporating data services and numeric resources into the social science research process. L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Data Librarians Represent! Integrating Data Services into the Social Science Research Process

Warm-up scenarios What does “integrating data services” mean? Who are your users? Teaching  Data Users  Non-data users  Other librarians Collaborations across campus L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Workshop overview

Scenario 1 L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 You have been invited as a guest speaker to a freshman seminar on national politics and current events. The professor casually requests that you “just talk about polling data for minutes”. How would work within these limitations and what would you cover?

Scenario 2 L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 You are providing a 50-minute library research workshop for lower-level comparative politics students. The students’ assignment is to write a paper comparing two countries and you have been asked to instruct them on locating scholarly articles and primary sources. How might you also incorporate numeric sources into the larger workshop?

Scenario 3 L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 You have been asked to give a 30-minute presentation on available data sources at the all-day, new PhD student orientation for the Sociology Department. Students are wide-ranging in knowledge, ability and research interests. How would you outline your presentation so it would be appropriate for this audience?

Scenario 4 L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Tired of last-minute grant proposal questions, you decide to offer a “Data Resources and Tips for Faculty Writing Grant Proposals” brown bag workshop. What might you include in this 45 minute workshop/discussion? What specifically do you want the faculty to walk away knowing?

Scenario 5 L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 It is your turn to provide the monthly 1-hour lecture for reference providers at your library (including social science and non-social science librarians as well as paraprofessionals that staff the reference desk). Given the diverse computer and mathematical skill levels of your colleagues, what sources/concepts would you cover so that they could confidently field (or refer) statistical reference questions?

Integrating Data Services L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 What is does this even mean? Why is it important?

Who are your users? L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Who are the users on your campus? What the problems/challenges do you have in working with those users? How do you fit into their social science research process?

Teaching: Data users L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Incorporating data search into larger literature review  Putting data in context

Teaching: Non-data users L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Finding the story in the data Stepping stones and gateway resources Example: Polling data and active-learning

Finding the story in the data L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Source: World Development Indicators

Stepping stones and gateway resources Source: EIU Country Reports

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Polling data and active-learning L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Example: What is a public opinion poll? Can results be trusted? How do you vet a polling statistic? How are the results displayed? For more information

Polling data and active-learning (cont.) Source: Roper Center iPoll

Polling data and active-learning (cont.) L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009

Teaching: Non-data users (cont.) L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Try and get students to think about the topic beforehand. Differentiate between walk away (knowledge) vs. take away (directions/tutorials). How can data literacy and statistical literacy fit into small assignments or limited class time?

Teaching: Other librarians L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Preparing non-social science librarians and staff for the reference desk. Teaching advanced topics to interns.

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Teaching about the American Community Survey 1.Find a partner and work on the questions below together! 2.Navigate to 3.On the left navigation click on American FactFinder 4.Look up Winston-Salem, NC in the Fact Sheets and look through the data categories. Under which category would school enrollment appear? 5.What is the estimate for total school enrollment for Winston-Salem, NC in the ACS? What was it during the 2000 Census? Let’s Play with Fact Sheets!

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L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Teaching about the American Community Survey Estimates  Sample is small and requires aggregation of data over time for smaller locations Point in time versus period data  Counting on April 1 of census year versus counting continuously throughout year Margins of error and confidence intervals  Figures are an estimate with a confidence interval of 90% What are critical concepts?

Village A has 15,000 Only 5 year estimates available ( ) Town B has 30,000 Three sets of 3 year estimates (05-07, , 07-09) & one 5 year estimate are available City C has 80,000 or more Five sets of 1 year estimates, three sets of 3 year estimates and one 5 year estimate are available Teaching about the American Community Survey

Collaborations across campus L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Course specific outreach. Students collecting their own data for thesis. Starting out with PhD cohorts. How have you collaborated?

What have we missed? L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Undergraduate versus graduate students Incorporating statistical literacy and data literacy Active learning Assessment Other outreach ideas?

Selected Bibliography L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009 Jacobs, Jim Providing data services for machine-readable information in an academic library: Some Levels of Service. Public-Access Computer Systems Review 2(1) Mahoe, Rochelle Reflections on the Dissertation Process and the Use of Secondary Data. Educational Perspectives, 37(2) Reed, Eleanor J Data services in academic libraries: Assessing needs and promoting services. Reference and User Services Quarterly, 46(3) Stephenson, Elisabeth and Caravello, Patti Schifter Incorporating data literacy into undergraduate information literacy programs in the social sciences: A pilot project. Reference Services Review, 35(4) See also: The 2004 special issue of IASSIST Quarterly 28(2/3) devoted to “Developing Statistical Literacy”.