De Facto Data Librarian? How Business Librarians' Data Skills Support the Future of Library Data Services

As we plot the future of data services in libraries, the interdisciplinary nature of data services means that increasing collaboration between functional data librarians and subject liaison librarians is a key trend. As well, subject liaison librarians are learning new skills and recognizing existing literacies to better serve their user populations. An example of this is data skils inherent to business librarianship. Business librarians are pragmatic data librarians, often not recognizing the extent of their data skills and abilities to provide data services. Especially in workplaces without specialist or standalone data librarians, business and economics librarians often function also as the de facto data librarian, handling data reference questions without additional support. The diverse, complex nature of business information means that business librarians have a significant ability to support patrons as they navigate siloed data, search for free data sources, and build datasets when no existing source is readily available.

This presentation will focus on how business librarians’ data skills complement services provided by functional data librarians, and how business librarians already have many of the skills to meet patrons’ data needs in the absence of specialist support. From their experiences as business librarians and examples from the literature, the presenters will lay out basic strengths and challenges data librarians or service coordinators can anticipate from building partnerships with business librarians. In particular, the session will present the value business librarians can bring to data sourcing, data synthesis, and incorporating data alongside other information sources. Presenters will also identify intervention points where data experts can support business librarians, in areas such as data visualization, alternative data sourcing, and systematic approaches to data literacy.