UD Library, Museums and Press staff members, along with partners from the Research Office, and UDIT Research Cyberinfrastructure staff, provide a suite of research data tools and services to the UD community to support UD’s research mission and to ensure continued success for UD Researchers. Through these partnerships, we can support researchers through the entire research lifecycle.
Data Services at UD
The suite of data services available to UD Researchers are numerous. Therefore, we have created this tool, the Data Services Directory, to help you locate the right data service for your needs. Simply select a service type and a topic, then submit. If you are still unable to find the service you need, then please reach out to us directly.
Support for Grant-Funded Research
Grant proposals may require information about university research services or a Data Management Plan (DMP). UD Research Data Services staff can help by recommending formats and templates, training researchers to use the DMPTool and reviewing plans to ensure all required components are addressed. To include our services in a proposal, submit a support request to discuss expectations. General guidance on referencing library services is available on the library’s Collaborating on a Grant Proposal webpage.
You may wish to include Research Data Services (RSD) in general as a university-provided resource. If that is the case, we recommend a discussion with our team. However, the following verbiage may be sufficient:
- University of Delaware Research Data Services is a cross-campus collaboration between data service providers. RDS experts provide guidance for researchers of all levels about the collection, description, analysis, visualization, storage, sharing, and preservation of research data. Through training, researcher support, and partnerships with campus collaborators, RDS aims to promote a culture of research data management best practices that will enhance the visibility, rigor, and reach of research at the University of Delaware.
UD Research Data Services is unable to directly engage with researcher datasets. Unfortunately we do not have the capacity to clean, curate, and steward datasets across the UD research enterprise. It is our intention to provide the support and training to make decisions about your research data and become good stewards.
Research Data Steering Group
The Research Data Steering Group (RDSG) is a collaborative group of professionals from multiple campus units that support research data across the University of Delaware. By bringing together expertise from the library, UD IT Research Cyberinfrastructure, and the Research Office, RDSG provides coordinated guidance and services that help researchers responsibly manage, analyze, preserve, and share data throughout the research lifecycle.
Research Data and Design Commons
The Research Data and Design Commons (RDDC) provides expert consultations and hands-on support for a wide range of research data needs, including data management planning, data repositories, data analysis and visualization, and computational methods. In addition to personalized consultations, the RDDC offers access to advanced technologies, software, and specialized spaces that support data-intensive research, digital scholarship, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Research and Engagement Department
The Research and Engagement Department (RED) is the core of library-based research support at the University of Delaware and includes liaison librarians who work closely with academic departments across campus. Several RED librarians provide research data services, offering guidance on data management best practices, data management plans, repository selection, and data literacy instruction. Their disciplinary expertise allows them to deliver domain-specific solutions tailored to faculty and student research needs.
Cataloguing and Metadata
The Cataloguing and Metadata Department brings deep expertise in data organization, documentation, preparation, and dissemination. As part of RDSG, Cataloguing and Metadata librarians support researchers in developing well-structured, reusable datasets and the use of tools such as OpenRefine to prepare complex data for use, and helping ensure data can be discovered, understood, and reused over time.
UD IT Research Cyberinfrastructure
UD IT Research Cyberinfrastructure provides essential technical support for research data management through campus-wide computing and storage solutions. Their services include secure data storage, backup and security solutions, research data management platforms, and access to high-performance computing resources. This group also serves as the technical foundation for UD Dataverse and other research data storage and sharing environments.
Research Office
The University of Delaware Research Office serves as the central administrative hub for the university’s research enterprise. Research Office staff support faculty and researchers with funding opportunities, research compliance, and responsible conduct of research, including data ethics and oversight through the Institutional Review Board (IRB), helping ensure that research data practices meet institutional and regulatory requirements.
Collectively, the Research Data Steering Group brings together complementary expertise from across the University of Delaware to provide coordinated, researcher-centered support for data-intensive scholarship. By integrating services related to data management, technical infrastructure, metadata, ethics, and research engagement, RDSG helps ensure that research data are well managed, secure, reusable, and aligned with institutional and disciplinary best practices throughout the full research lifecycle.