Angela Zoss
Data Visualization Coordinator
Duke University
Data visualization is a growing discipline, spanning all academic fields and enhancing traditional scholarly communication methods by helping researchers conduct alternative data analysis techniques or by communicating the results of research to a broader audience. In response to growing demand for visualization instruction and consultation, Duke University Libraries have recently joined with the Duke Office of Research Computing to create a Data Visualization Coordinator position, offering centralized, campus-wide support for data visualization within Duke Libraries’ Data & GIS Services department. As part of a larger program of data consulting support in the libraries, the new data visualization program attempts to instruct and consult on the wide variety of visualization work going on at Duke, from medical imaging and Geographic Information Systems to network visualizations and business intelligence reports. This presentation will share both challenges and solutions to providing visualization support, from combating data and visualization literacy deficits to developing on-demand instructional materials using online services like GitHub and LibGuides. Attendees should leave the presentation with an understanding of the basic skills necessary to understand and create basic data visualizations, as well as resources and references for beginning to provide visualization support to a diverse community.