Virginia Data Management Bootcamp: A Collaborative Initiative in Data Education

Academic research libraries are quickly developing support for research data management, including both new services and infrastructures. In particular, libraries have actively engaged in providing data services through data training and workshops at their own institution and/or within inter-university collaborations. In this collaboration, two research university libraries in Virginia took the lead, and built partnerships, in designing and offering a bootcamp to educate early career researchers about issues and best practices in research data management. The first bootcamp in 2013 was held by University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. By 2015 there were five additional institutions: George Mason University, James Madison University, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the College of William & Mary. The bootcamp covers a range of topics, and currently includes: Finding and Reusing Data, Documentation and Metadata, Data Wrangling, Rights and Access, and Database Creation. This collaborative project highlights: 1) the prominent role of the library in data education; 2) the effective application of training to good data management practices; 3) the development of training materials and curriculum that speak to a variety of institutions with different constituents; and, 4) the benefit of a multi-institutional approach for sustaining a program.