As research becomes increasingly data driven, faculty across disciplines are facing new challenges—finding high quality datasets, designing effective data collection workflows, interpreting large datasets, and complying with evolving funder requirements. These tasks require time, expertise, and a deep understanding of the modern data landscape. Seeing a need to expand upon her data services knowledge, Piper Brown-Kingsley, the Data Services Librarian at the Health Sciences Library, recently completed the Medical Library Association (MLA) Data Services Specialization to help faculty and students navigate their complex data needs.

Building Stronger Foundations for Research

Through the specialization, Piper received advanced training in data collection methods, common data elements, and the fundamentals of health data science. These are areas where researchers often benefit from expert guidance, especially when collaborating across teams or working on long-term projects where messy or inconsistent data can spiral into major problems down the road. With her new skills, Piper can help faculty design clear, consistent, well-structured data collection workflows to ease the data analysis process. She also gained experience creating Python based data visualizations, enabling her to help researchers understand and interpret their data.

Can You Help Me Find a Dataset?

One of the most common questions we hear from faculty is: “Can you help me find a dataset?”

And it’s a good question—because finding high-quality, well documented, and appropriately sized datasets can be surprisingly difficult. Piper’s specialization deepens her ability to:

• Identify appropriate and reputable data sources.
• Evaluate whether a dataset truly fits a research question.
• Guide faculty through application or verification processes to acquire datasets.
• Assist in downloading, preparing, and managing complex data files.

These skills translate directly into real-world support. For instance, when a student needed access to the SEER Incidence Data (1975–2021) for a project on lung cancer, Piper oversaw the entire process: navigating the application, learning the specialized software required to download the data, and teaching the student how to load the data into SPSS. This kind of hands-on, problem-solving assistance is exactly what many need as they explore new avenues of research.

Supporting Grant Applications and Data Management Plans

As funding agencies increasingly emphasize transparency and data sharing, Data Management Plans (DMPs) have become essential components of successful grant proposals. However, creating a solid DMP takes expertise and time—both of which can be in short supply for busy researchers.

Piper can help you:

• Understand and meet funder requirements.
• Plan for long-term data access and preservation.
• Document datasets to enable future reuse.
• Ensure compliance with federal and institutional policies.

Piper’s guidance strengthens grant applications and ensures that research outputs remain accessible, reusable, and impactful long after the project ends. With data citations becoming more common, this kind of support will only grow in importance.

Ready to Take the Next Step in Your Research?

If you’re preparing a grant, searching for the right dataset, designing a data collection process, or working through a challenging analysis, our data trained librarians are here to help—whether you need a quick consultation or in-depth support.

Visit the Health Sciences Library’s Data Services page to explore resources or schedule a consultation: https://library.muhealth.org/services/data-services/

Not a health sciences faculty or student? You can reach out to your subject librarian. 

Reach out early and often. Partnering with librarians at the beginning of your project can save you time and give your research a solid foundation from the very start.