Data librarianship competencies and scope of research data services in university libraries in Türkiye: A mixed methods study

The main purpose of this study is to reveal the activities carried out within the framework of research data services in university libraries in Turkey and to determine the level of knowledge, skills and competence of university librarians in data librarianship based on their own perceptions. In order to achieve this aim, a mixed-method research design, the concurrent design, in which qualitative and quantitative research designs are used together, was adopted in the study. The quantitative phase of the research was conducted with the survey model, which describes the existing situation as it is, and the qualitative phase was conducted with a case study to present the data in detail with a comprehensive approach. The research was conducted in the libraries of public and foundation universities that have an open science policy. In the quantitative dimension, the population of the research consists of 103 librarians working in the relevant units (reference, institutional academic archive, scholarly communication unit) of these university libraries. The sample of the study consists of 83 librarians determined by convenience sampling method. In the qualitative dimension, the study group of the research is the library managers working in 5 public and 5 foundation university libraries. In the analysis of the quantitative data obtained from the participants, arithmetic mean, percentage, frequency, t-test for independent samples, ANOVA test were used, and thematic analysis was performed on qualitative data. Quantitative data were analyzed with SPSS 22 statistical analysis package program, while MAXQDA 2022 program was used for the analysis of qualitative data. It is seen that the results of quantitative and qualitative data analysis confirm each other at many points in the study, and when the findings obtained in line with the quantitative, qualitative and mixed research questions within the scope of mixed method research are evaluated, the results of the study show that the knowledge, skills and competence of librarians working in reference and institutional academic archives units in university libraries in Turkey are at an intermediate level in data librarianship. Although the services offered within the scope of RDS in university libraries are a little ahead of the initial level, they need to be improved. The knowledge, skills and competence levels of librarians working in the relevant departments of university libraries are in line with the scope of existing services. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the development of librarians in the field of data librarianship will contribute to expanding the scope of research data services in university libraries and designing effective services. This study is expected to contribute to the literature, university librarians and library administrators. Keywords: university libraries, data librarianship, research data services, research data management