Data Librarians Represent!

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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 lmkellam_at_uncg.edu
Katharin Peter Social Sciences Data
Librarian University of Southern
California kpeter_at_usc.edu
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Data Librarians Represent!
Integrating Data Services into the Social Science
Research Process

• 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
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Workshop overview

• 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
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Scenario 1

• 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 10-15 minutes.
  How would work within these limitations and what
  would you cover?

L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009
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Scenario 2

• 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?

L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009
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Scenario 3

• 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?

L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009
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Scenario 4

• 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?

L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009
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Scenario 5

• 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?

L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009
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Integrating Data Services

• What is does this even mean?
• Why is it important?

L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009
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Who are your users?

• 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?

L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009
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Teaching Data users

• Incorporating data search into larger literature
  review
• http//www.hawaii.edu/edper/pdf/Vol37Iss2/Reflecti
  ons.pdf
• Putting data in context

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Teaching Non-data users

• Finding the story in the data
• Stepping stones and gateway resources
• Example Polling data and active-learning

L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009
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Finding the story in the data
Source World Development Indicators
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Stepping stones and gateway resources
Source EIU Country Reports
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Source http//data.un.org
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Source http//data.un.org
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Polling data and active-learning

• 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

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Polling data and active-learning (cont.)
Source Roper Center iPoll
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Polling data and active-learning (cont.)
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Teaching Non-data users (cont.)

• 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?

L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009
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Teaching Other librarians

• Preparing non-social science librarians and staff
  for the reference desk.
• Teaching advanced topics to interns.

L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009
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Source http//www.census.gov
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Source http//www.census.gov
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Teaching about the American Community Survey
Lets Play with Fact Sheets!

1. Find a partner and work on the questions below
   together!
2. Navigate to http//www.census.gov/
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 2005-2007 ACS? What
   was it during the 2000 Census?

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Source http//www.census.gov
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Teaching about the American Community Survey
What are critical concepts?

• 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

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Teaching about the American Community Survey
Town B has 30,000 Three sets of 3 year estimates
(05-07, 06-08, 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
Village A has 15,000 Only 5 year estimates
available (2005-2009)
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Collaborations across campus

• Course specific outreach.
• Students collecting their own data for thesis.
• Starting out with PhD cohorts.
• How have you collaborated?

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What have we missed?

• Undergraduate versus graduate students
• Incorporating statistical literacy and data
  literacy
• Active learning
• Assessment
• Other outreach ideas?

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Selected Bibliography

• Jacobs, Jim. 1991. Providing data services for
  machine-readable information in an academic
  library Some Levels of Service. Public-Access
  Computer Systems Review 2(1) 144-160.
• Mahoe, Rochelle. 2004. Reflections on the
  Dissertation Process and the Use of Secondary
  Data. Educational Perspectives, 37(2) 34-37.
• Reed, Eleanor J. 2007. Data services in academic
  libraries Assessing needs and promoting
  services. Reference and User Services Quarterly,
  46(3) 61-73.
• Stephenson, Elisabeth and Caravello, Patti
  Schifter. 2007.  Incorporating data literacy into
  undergraduate information literacy programs in
  the social sciences A pilot project. Reference
  Services Review, 35(4) 525-540.
• See also
• The 2004 special issue of IASSIST Quarterly
  28(2/3) devoted to Developing Statistical
  Literacy.

L. Kellam, K. Peter May 2009