Meet Lisa Chinn, Head of Research Data Services

Lisa Joined the Library on August 5 as Head of Research Data Services in the Center for Digital Scholarship. Lisa will work with colleagues in the Library to provide faculty, researchers, and students with expert guidance on data management, promote best practices, and contribute to the advancement of digital scholarship initiatives at the University of Chicago. She will foster collaborative approaches to research data services and infrastructure at the university level, actively engaging with partners such as the Research Computing Center and IT Services.

Lisa graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with Bachelor of Art degrees in English and French. She has an MA in English from Georgetown University, an MA in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin, and a PhD in English from Emory University. Prior to accepting this position, she served as Data Services Librarian and Assistant Professor at the Leon S. McGoogan Health Sciences Library at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Her expertise in building data services will be integral to library research support.

Cecilia Smith, the Director of Digital Scholarship, interviewed Lisa about here role at the University of Chicago and her past experience in libraries.

What drew you to working at the UChicago Library?

I am very aware of UChicago’s reputation as a leading research institution that promotes excellence in all its endeavors, and so I wanted a chance to be a part of building on the strengths of the UChicago Library while also leading it into the realm of research data. This was such a great opportunity to build services, grow infrastructure, and work with a great team doing so!

What were you doing before this position at the University of Chicago?

I was leading data services at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s library, in Omaha, Nebraska, where I worked with researchers, clinicians, and students to promote data management and literacy across the campus. I worked closely with other units to prepare NIH data management and sharing plans, among other agencies, and developed guidelines in collaboration with departments and centers on data collection, storage, and sharing. I was the inaugural data services librarian, so there were lots of opportunities to work with and promote open scholarship, FAIR/ CARE data principles, and the role of data accessibility in the health sciences.

How will you support students, faculty, and instructors in your role here?

Working in the Center for Digital Scholarship is a natural place for research data services, since data is the foundation for digital scholarship, and the CDS’s space on the first floor of Regenstein helps to facilitate collaboration. I plan to do lots of outreach around data literacy, open data, data privacy, and data management. The backbone of research is data, and the care and attention to how that data is collected, analyzed, stored, and shared should be integral to the research process. Thus, the processes surrounding data management facilitate research excellence, and I plan to support student and faculty research through building infrastructure and literacy.

How do you envision your role in supporting open access and open science initiatives?

I still think there are a lot of knowledge gaps between researchers and what open access/ open science entails, even thirty-ish years into the movement. Some of these gaps are because of the ever-changing landscape of publishing and the need to respond with open solutions, but the ideals behind open have largely remained the same. I would like to get to a point where we are not just responding to granting agency policies or publisher requirements, but we are creating long-term structures that are nimble and flexible enough to be proactive solutions for researchers. That’s a little vague in practice right now, but I imagine, for example, it would mean the FAIR/ CARE data principles would have concrete processes for all researchers at UChicago, and that they would know that the Library is where they get support to implement these principles in practice on campus.

What are you interested in outside of libraries?

I have a PhD in English literature, so poetry readings are definitely something I intend to take part in here in Chicago. I also speak French and was involved in the Alliance Française in Omaha, so I plan to get involved in the Alliance here. Of course, growing up in Colorado, you can’t get away from outdoor activities all year round, and I enjoy biking, hiking, and especially running. I’m loving running along Lakeshore Drive! I also really love just exploring new places, and Chicago is such a great city for picking a neighborhood on the weekend and just walking around and exploring what that neighborhood has to offer.

What have you been reading, listening to, or watching lately?

I’m currently reading The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, which I can’t believe I haven’t read until now. It’s such an engaging ethnography/ history of the Great Migration. It’s unlike anything I’ve read before. In terms of TV, I’ve been keeping up with The Bear, and it’s definitely one of my favorite shows ever. I listen to a wide range of music, from rap (favorite right now is Killer Mike’s newest album/ KDot’s diss tracks) to classical (Shostakovich is a perennial favorite) to Chappell Roan. My “Spotify Wrapped” is always a chaotic orchestra of genres.

What’s your favorite part of Chicago?

The food!

Reach out to Lisa with your research data questions at lisachinn@uchicago.edu.