Ruby Lindsay
Liaison Librarian for Pharmacy and Nutrition, and Kinesiology
University of Saskatchewan
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5049-836X
Su Hyun Lim
Liaison Librarian for Agriculture and Bioresources, and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Saskatchewan
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0001-603X
Kevin Read
Research Data Management Librarian
University of Saskatchewan
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7511-9036
Introduction
While there have been many published examples of libraries developing and implementing research data management (RDM)-related services, mentoring and educating librarians in liaison or subject areas has been challenging due to a lack of capacity and a need for commitment from library administration (Tang & Hu, 2019; Tayler & Jafary, 2021; Wittenberg et al., 2018).
At the University of Saskatchewan (USask) — a Canadian U15 mid-sized research institution (R1 equivalent) — there are more than 200 faculty and research staff and 26,000 students, and the library consists of 30 librarians/archivists, with one librarian assigned to support RDM (University of Saskatchewan, 2025). To ensure service can be provided sustainably across campus, the RDM Librarian established a model that supports liaison librarians in offering a base level of RDM support to their disciplines, including conducting basic consultations and teaching an introductory RDM class. This model was supported by the library’s administration, and championed by the Assistant Dean, Research. The goal of this model was to skill-up librarians to incorporate RDM into their liaison services, offer mentoring and support, and increase collaboration with the RDM Librarian.
To support liaisons in alignment with the service model, the RDM Librarian developed a teaching toolkit that librarians can use to teach an introductory RDM class in their own setting. This editorial will describe the development and implementation of the toolkit and share reflections on its use by the RDM Librarian and liaisons.
Toolkit development
The RDM teaching toolkit was developed to provide librarians with guidance and customizable resources to teach a 1-hour RDM class to their liaison areas, with ongoing support and mentorship from the RDM Librarian. The toolkit consists of a lesson plan, slide deck, speaking notes, evaluation plan, and a readme file to help librarians navigate each resource (Read, 2025), and is based on the RDM Librarian’s previous work developing and implementing RDM training (Read, Koos, et al., 2019; Read, Larson, et al., 2019). Each resource can be customized to suit the disciplinary needs of the instructor and audience. The slide deck includes prompts for librarians to include disciplinary content; the speaking notes are written in point form to encourage librarians to speak in their own voice; and the lesson plan provides prompts for librarians to engage with the audience in participatory learning to discuss RDM in their disciplinary context. Additionally, a list of self-guided training resources is provided for librarians to explore RDM in more depth at their own convenience.
While the toolkit serves as a standalone resource, it was equally important to engage with liaison librarians and create a cohesive approach to RDM, which came through the work implementing the toolkit across the library.
Toolkit implementation
The RDM Librarian took a hands-on approach to implementing the toolkit. First, they presented the toolkit to all librarians to provide them with opportunities to offer feedback and share their concerns. The library’s Assistant Dean, Research attended this session to field any capacity-related questions from liaison librarians. After the library-wide presentations, the RDM Librarian visited smaller groups of librarians who work in aligned disciplinary areas (i.e., health sciences, humanities/social sciences, natural sciences). In these sessions, the RDM Librarian brought discipline-specific data management plans (DMPs) to review so that librarians could become more comfortable with the kinds of plans they might encounter when working with their liaison communities. The smaller group sessions provided a more comfortable environment for librarians to learn about RDM contextually, ask questions, and voice concerns.
After the sessions, the RDM Librarian offered mentoring opportunities for librarians such as letting them shadow an introductory RDM class that used the content within the teaching toolkit. The RDM Librarian also offered to co-teach a session with any liaison who wanted to try the toolkit. The core principle of creating the teaching toolkit was to reinforce that the RDM Librarian was there to provide support and guidance where necessary and foster a team-based approach to RDM support across campus.
Reflections
Two liaison librarians with varying levels of knowledge in RDM reflect here on their use of the toolkit in their liaison areas (health sciences and veterinary medicine) and in teaching open graduate student workshops, considering strengths of the toolkit and potential areas for improvement.
Strengths
An important factor that contributed to the success of the RDM teaching toolkit was the mentorship and support provided by the RDM Librarian to liaison librarians. Having the RDM Librarian available to offer advice and answer questions was a key strength of this service model. This support fostered more collaborative and accessible use of the toolkit in delivering RDM instruction and was met with positive feedback from liaisons.
One significant benefit of the toolkit is that it provides foundational RDM knowledge, enabling library professionals with any level of RDM experience to administer RDM instruction. The kit effectively combines relevant academic literature, current practices, and the personal experiences of the RDM Librarian to equip liaison librarians with necessary information to conduct comprehensive RDM instruction. One of the liaison librarians who had little background experience in RDM found the toolkit to be beginner-friendly and was able to adapt the toolkit to offer effective, audience-specific instruction. They also found that the toolkit supported them when engaging in conversations with researchers who had RDM experience.
The adaptability of the toolkit is another strength. The various components can be mixed and matched to suit the preferences of various liaison librarians, their subject areas, and their individual teaching styles. For example, one part of the toolkit (e.g., slides) can be used independently, or multiple components can be used together (e.g., slides, speaking notes, lesson plan). Each component has been created in a way that’s broadly applicable across disciplines, while still allowing for customization through discipline-specific examples. For instance, one liaison librarian with previous experience in RDM instruction appreciated the flexibility of the toolkit as they were able to choose the components that supported the parts of their RDM instruction in which they were already confident.
One specific component of the toolkit that both liaison librarians appreciated was the speaking notes. Teaching templates or toolkits often include a lesson plan and/or slides, but speaking notes are included less often. Having these notes was helpful in reducing the workload of the liaisons and made them feel supported by the RDM Librarian.
Areas for improvement
Although the toolkit provides suggestions for smaller activities that can be incorporated during an RDM lesson, the liaison librarians felt that including even more hands-on learning opportunities could be beneficial. Having a mix of both smaller and more substantial, hands-on activities could help learners stay more engaged and actively practice RDM. One activity that has been successful is a DMP review exercise, where students review DMPs of varying quality in class and discuss how they would improve them to provide more detail. This activity could be added to the toolkit for liaisons who feel comfortable administering it in their sessions.
Adding instructions on how to effectively use the software and technologies mentioned in the toolkit may be helpful to both liaison librarians and learners. Including practical tips on using these tools, or walking through a specific tool, could increase one’s confidence and potential interest in a tool. One option to expand the toolkit could be to develop modular demonstrations of institutionally supported resources that could be added to the lesson plan in order to provide more guidance on how to use them. The modular nature of these additions would in turn increase the flexibility of the toolkit and allow liaison librarians to pick and choose what to incorporate based on the needs of students.
While the toolkit can be easily adapted for all disciplines, the learner’s ability to apply the practical advice to their own research process may be limited by the level of support available from their research team, supervisor or collaborators. To encourage ongoing RDM adoption by researchers, the RDM Librarian could include promotional material for liaisons to share emerging resources, services, and current RDM events, and to highlight how RDM has been incorporated into existing course work across campus. Liaison librarians could then inform the participants of these resources and mention follow-up consultations, sessions, or workshops to bridge further opportunities. This approach encourages a sustainable RDM marketing strategy that capitalizes on the existing relationships librarians have with their liaison communities.
Conclusion
The RDM teaching toolkit provides librarians with the necessary resources, mentorship, and support to independently and sustainably offer RDM training to their liaison areas, as well as comprehensive introductory information and teaching materials that are adaptable to their needs and is accommodating to audiences with varying levels of RDM knowledge. The development of USask’s RDM Toolkit and reflections on using the toolkit, demonstrate a collaborative and team-based approach to RDM services that provides liaisons with an avenue to expand their skills in RDM while still receiving support from the RDM Librarian. Having the RDM Librarian engage with liaison librarians and meet them where they were at, contributed to the successful implementation, early adoption, and usefulness of USask’s toolkit. We encourage other libraries to explore similar models to engage librarians across the library in RDM while providing the RDM Librarian with feedback, areas to improve, and new service ideas for further training and development. The toolkit materials are available here for those who would like to access them.
References
Read, K. B. (2025, December 2). Research data management teaching toolkit: A resource for liaison and/or subject librarians. OSF. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/6AXFV
Read, K. B., Koos, J., Miller, R. S., Miller, C. F., Phillips, G. A., Scheinfeld, L., & Surkis, A. (2019). A model for initiating research data management services at academic libraries. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 107(3). https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2019.545
Read, K. B., Larson, C., Gillespie, C., Oh, S. Y., & Surkis, A. (2019). A two-tiered curriculum to improve data management practices for researchers. PLoS ONE, 14(5), e0215509. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0215509
Tang, R., & Hu, Z. (2019). Providing research data management (RDM) services in libraries: Preparedness, roles, challenges, and training for RDM practice. Data and Information Management, 3(2), 84–101. https://doi.org/10.2478/dim-2019-0009
Tayler, F., & Jafary, M. (2021). Shifting horizons: A literature review of research data management train-the-trainer models for library and campus-wide research support staff in Canadian institutions. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 16(1), 78–90. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip29814
University of Saskatchewan. (2025). Enrolment. https://leadership.usask.ca/priorities/reports/enrolment.php
Wittenberg, J., Sackmann, A., & Jaffe, R. (2018). Situating expertise in practice: Domain-based data management training for liaison librarians. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 44(3), 323–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2018.04.004
