Content for the Data Help Desk

Content for the help desk prior to the conference:

This stage involves preparation to ensure the help desk is well-equipped to assist users.

• Solicit content for the help desk before the conference, considering who to ask and what type of content is needed.
• Create a starter set of question topics, specific questions, and question answers to guide help desk volunteers.
• Develop a list of user topics that volunteers may be asked about.
• Schedule demos, talks, and one-pagers for the help desk.
• Create a list of resources for various subject areas, providing relevant examples.
• Solicit asynchronous content like recorded demos and one-pagers from experts, ensuring they cover key topics such as resource name, description, access, contact information, and funding support.
• For repositories, specifically solicit information about data types, funding restrictions, size limits, metadata standards, submission procedures, support personnel, training, licenses, and costs.
• Develop Volunteer Guidelines to clarify expectations and opportunities.
• Develop and share a Volunteer Form.

Educational Materials

By providing access to comprehensive guides and highlighting relevant software and tools, a data help desk can significantly empower researchers to manage their data more effectively and adhere to open and FAIR data principles.

1. Data management guides and manuals
   • Comprehensive guides on data management, curation, and preservation are essential resources for a data help desk. These guides can provide in-depth information on best practices and address the lack of formal training many researchers have in research data management.
   • These materials can cover topics such as ways to manage data and why managing data is important. They can also delve into specific areas like data cleaning, reshaping, merging, quality control, archiving, citation, and reproducible workflows.
   • Consider creating basic handouts on what data management is, as this was a topic many attendees at past Data Help Desks were unaware of.
   • The “Graduate School Data Road Map” exemplifies a guide that helps graduate students identify data management practices relevant to different milestones in their academic careers, pointing them to videos, tutorials, and other resources.
   • Resources like “10 Simple Rules for Creating a Data Management Plan” or materials on creating a Data Management Plan would fall under this category.
   • Information Management, Metadata, Data Repositories, and Data Management Plans are examples of general data topics that guides could address.
   • Links to external guides and resources should be readily available, such as the ESIP Data Management Training Clearinghouse, which helps users find learning resources. Other valuable links include resources from DataONE, The Carpentries, CUAHSI, and the EarthCube FAIR resources.
   • Resource guides for data and sample sharing and links to articles providing an overview of data management are also valuable.
2. Software and tools
   • Providing information and access to specialized software, such as data analysis or visualization tools, is a key function of a data help desk. This includes mentioning specific software relevant to different scientific fields.
   • The help desk can offer demos of tools and resources and direct users to helpful tutorials that highlight tools for managing data and enhancing research.
   • Examples of software and tools that could be highlighted include:
     • Data analysis software like R, Python, and MATLAB. The help desk can point to resources like Project Pythia for learning Python for the Geosciences and R code for data cleaning.
     • Data visualization tools.
     • Tools for creating and managing metadata, such as ezEML and EMLAssemblyLine from EDI.
     • Workflow tracking tools.
     • Electronic notebooks.
     • Repository platforms like HydroShare, DataONE, Arctic Data Center, and Figshare.
     • Geospatial tools like QGreenland.
     • Tools for specific domains, such as StraboSpot for geologic data or tools provided by Unidata for atmospheric science.
     • Cloud-based data tools like JupyterHub and Hydroshare.
     • Tools for data citation, potentially linking to resources on how to cite data and software like a pro.
   • The help desk can provide information on where to find data software, potentially including lists of GitHub repositories related to Earth Science.
   • Addressing questions about software citation and providing resources like “5 Tips to Citing Your Research Software and Improving Discovery” is important.
   • For questions about specific software issues, such as getting grid lines behind data in Matplotlib, while the help desk might not provide direct troubleshooting, it can point users towards relevant communities or documentation.
   • The help desk can also address questions about the kind of software needed to share with a paper and provide guidance on sharing software externally.

Content for help desk during conference:

This focuses on making resources and expertise available to attendees.

• Make content for the data help desk available, considering what content, subjects, formats, and its lifetime (during or after the conference).
• Content can come from experts volunteering during the help desk, including specific answers, locations of resources, references to knowledgeable people, and demos.
• Non-expert volunteers can also contribute during the meeting.
• Content created before the conference should be made accessible.
• Share asynchronous content such as posters, talks, demos, brochures, and social media posts, ensuring permission to share and a plan for presentation. Examples of asynchronous content include short video recordings, one-pagers, and tweets. Recorded demos can have a lasting impact.
• Experts can staff the desk to answer questions.
• Offer demos, workshops, and handouts.
• Create resource galleries.
• Utilize a large monitor/area for on-demand demos.
• Have space for handouts/flyers and a small monitor with a rotating slidedeck featuring useful prompts and information.

Content from help desk after conference (Ephemeral or archived):

This considers the lifespan and future availability of the help desk’s outputs. - Content can be ephemeral, existing only during the conference. - Content can also be archived for future use. - Asynchronous content like recorded demos can have a lasting impact beyond the conference. - Consider having a service year-round where scientists can ask data management questions, similar to library services. This could involve a database of expert contacts. - Findings from the Data Help Desk can be disseminated through webinars and reports to data-related communities. - The resource gallery can serve as an archive of helpful materials. However, organizers should consider how to best present and curate this growing collection to ensure navigability.