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Rochlin, who recently joined UVic as a Data Science Librarian, proposed these drop-ins based on his experience as a Research Data Management Specialist in UBC’s Advanced Research Computing unit. He notes many universities have an inefficient separation of research services: “a lot of data services and computational services at universities are very fragmented and covered by different departments, yet there's a lot of overlap in what they should be serving. In bringing these groups together in a singular venue, researchers can ask a question and then get the full answer from all these different groups with their own perspectives and expertise that complement each other. We're building a community of support that's meant to be more holistic and fuller for the researchers.”

When Rochlin was hired by UVic Libraries a year and a half ago, there was an exciting opportunity to work across traditional unit silos to build more resilient data support services. After meeting with representatives from these groups to discuss data services on several occasions, there was a natural progression to moving these meetings into a more open venue as opposed to being held privately. There were no expectations about researchers joining at the beginning, and they were a great opportunity to build relationships across these units. 

In tandem with the drop-ins, there were also opportunities to build deeper connections with Research Computing that the UVic Libraries had already established. Because Rochlin had a background in Research Computing, he had a knowledge of the services they offered and saw that they were keen to work with the Libraries to integrate each department’s work. Out of the same meetings that spawned the drop-ins, Rochlin and Sarah Huber, Senior Advanced Research Computing Support Analyst, from Research Computing Services, began discussing how they could collaboratively promote data services at UVic. This turned into the Data Roadshows, where they reached out to departments at UVic to promote their services and the drop-ins at department meetings, and gain feedback and suggestions from researchers and faculty, all with diverse interests and needs. The relationship with Research Computing has continued to develop and mature and has resulted in collaborative training initiatives and projects.

Since piloting the drop-ins ten months ago, there has been excellent feedback from students. “I think it's just that theme of working together and getting buy-in, where people can see that we're all benefiting by working together and that we can do something together that neither one group could do on its own,” says Rochlin. “That goes to speak for the drop-ins as well as other projects, and I think the more that we can start thinking like that, the more that we can do bigger, better things, both from a support angle as well for our researchers.”

Research data drop-ins occur on the first Wednesday of every month from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. at the Digital Scholarship Commons, room A308.