What to Expect

As a volunteer working at a data help desk, you can expect a variety of tasks and interactions such as the following:

Staffing the Desk

You will be expected to staff the desk or monitor platforms for scheduled time slots, often 1-2 hours.

  • You will be at the booth in the exhibit hall or similar location. This may involve giving demos of tools or resources, possibly at the main booth or a nearby kiosk. Handouts and stickers may be available.
  • You might be monitoring designated online platforms, such as BlueSky (using the event hashtag like #DataHelpDesk) and/or a Slack channel, to identify and respond to questions. You can respond via your personal or an organizational BlueSky account.
  • You will should be with a schedule beforehand.

Preparation and Support

Organizers will provide you with Volunteer Guidelines and tips to help you prepare. These guidelines clarify opportunities and expectations and should include a link to a code of conduct. You may receive orientation or training, which can include basic information about the organizing entities (like ESIP) and fundamental data management concepts, especially since many users are new to the topic. Providing a list of resources and potential questions ahead of time is also expected. Reminders about staffing time slots and encouragement from organizers are part of the support.

Interacting with Users

You will engage directly with researchers, who may be students, postdocs, early career, or established professionals. Many users may have little to no formal training in research data management. You should be approachable, show interest in the questions asked, and practice active listening and clarification to determine the true question being asked. Experts should share their science expertise to find commonalities and establish trust. It is important to avoid talking down to researchers. You may need to be prepared to talk to strangers. Researchers may not always ask questions initially, so there’s a need to create buzz and share resources proactively. You might use prepared questions to engage passers-by at a physical booth.

Answering and Referring User Questions

You will be answering data and software-related questions. However, you are not expected to know everything. If you receive a question you cannot answer, don’t panic. You should record the question (or have the researcher record it) on provided sign-in sheets. Organizers will follow up on these questions after the event. For complex questions or those outside your expertise, you can use backchannel communication channels, such as a Slack channel, to crowdsource answers from other experts or refer the user to a more appropriate expert. The help desk often aims to provide a lead or guidance rather than a complete, exhaustive answer. Follow-up is important, ensuring users leave with contact information or have questions addressed later.

Knowledge about Questions

You should be prepared to answer questions on a wide range of data-related topics. Common questions include where to find or deposit certain types of data, how to create a data management plan (DMP), how to cite data or software, what FAIR principles mean, how to handle large datasets, and questions about relevant organizations. Some questions might be vague or uncategorized, reflecting a need for a broader, preliminary consultation. You should understand why sound data management practices, like making data open and FAIR, are important. You will likely be provided with a list of potential questions and resources beforehand.

Contributing Content

Beyond answering live questions, you might be asked to contribute content before or during the event, such as suggesting questions and answers for FAQs or creating recorded demos or one-pagers for a virtual resource gallery.

Evaluation and Feedback

Your participation and interactions may be part of an evaluation process. You might be asked to provide feedback through a post-event volunteer survey on what worked well and what could be improved. Notes on your interactions might be collected (anonymized) to analyze question types and inform future efforts. Ensuring volunteers feel their time was well spent is important for future participation.