Research Data Services at the University of Colorado Boulder

Abstract

EDITOR'S SUMMARYThe University of Colorado Boulder's Research Data Services (RDS) is a joint activity of the University Libraries and the Office of Information Technology. Started in 2011 to meet the National Science Foundation's mandate for data management plans with all grant submissions, RDS grew from helping to write the plans to indicating resources to educating researchers on their use and providing individual consultations and reviews. RDS staff also aid researchers with metadata documentation, helping to develop file documentation and later migrating to final formats. Researchers often contact RDS about long‐term data storage or for assistance with data dissemination and complying with the requirements of data repositories, funding agencies or scholarly journals. Urging researchers to learn about data management, using a variety of communication channels and venues, is key. Incorporating a data management plan requirement to in‐house grants and creating a data management plan competition with financial award have been most successful at promoting the RDS.