Overview

With the skills acquired in earning a Level I DSS certificate, you’ll be able to manage research data, provide guidance and instruction on data management best practices, and apply ethical data management principles.

With the skills acquired  in earning a Level II DSS certificate, you’ll build upon your Level I skills and be able to appraise data and data collection practices, evaluate and expand data services, and develop domain-specific data expertise.

Why Get a DSS?

As research becomes increasingly data-driven, libraries are expanding their data services. Health sciences librarians and other health information professionals are ideally situated in the research and information-seeking process to provide data services support.

Your Level I DSS certificate shows employers, colleagues and researchers and others who work with data that:

• You have skills in providing a range of data services
• You are committed to offering quality data services 
• You are committed to staying current with developments in data management and data services.

Your Level II DSS certificate shows employers, colleagues and researchers and others who work with data that:

• You have skills to engage across your institution and build alliances to develop and advance robust data services
• You are able to actively engage with researchers and students in advanced data management practices
• You have advanced skills across domains, including data collection, computational research, and other skills based on a curriculum customized to your personal interests.

Who Is the Data Services Specialization Designed For?

• Health sciences librarians and other information professionals and students who wish to expand their skills in providing data services and increase their value to employers
  
• Professionals and students who hold or are seeking positions as a data management librarian, research data management librarian, data librarian, data specialist, or data visualization librarian.

What Skills Does the DSS Promote?

The DSS is built upon the Data Services Competency:

Health and biomedical information professionals with competency in Data Services engage with and support users across the data life cycle to promote data literacy, data science, and open science practices.

The competency encompasses five skill areas at two levels of expertise. A data services specialist:

1. Applies principles of data literacy
   
   • Level I: Finds, interprets, and manages data according to ethical principles 
   • Level II: Critically appraises data and data collection methods
     
2. Establishes and advances data services 
   
   • Level I: Collects and uses knowledge of institutional and research context to initiate institutionally relevant data services     
   • Level II: Evaluates and expands upon existing data services by developing partnerships and becoming integrated into the institutional research environment
     
3. Supports research data best practices across the data lifecycle
   
   • Level I: Provides guidance on generalizable, domain-agnostic research data best practices 
   • Level II: Identifies and implements domain-specific research data best practices
     
4. Applies knowledge of research methods, ethics and rigor, and open science practices
   
   • Level I: Applies a basic understanding of scientific method and ethical and sound research practices to data-related problems, encouraging open science practices when appropriate 
   • Level II: Applies specialized knowledge of one or more scientific disciplines and research methods to advanced, domain-specific data-related problems
     
5. Provides training and consultation on data-related topics      
   
   • Level I: Develops and delivers instruction to enhance data literacy and skills
   • Level II: Provides customized discipline- and context-specific training on advanced data-related topics, including those requiring computational approaches

What Are the Requirements for Earning Your DSS?

• You must earn a Level I certificate before you can earn your Level II certificate.
• Courses you submit for the specialization must have been taken no more than three years prior to your date of application. 
• Your DSS is valid for three years.
• To keep your DSS valid, you must take three credits in each of the five competency areas during the three years your DSS is valid. A single course can meet requirements for more than one area. We recommend that individuals with a Level I DSS take Level II courses and so use their three years to acquire their Level II DSS.

Tips on Applying for Your DSS

• Make sure you have taken the required credit amount and number of approved courses for the DSS level for which you are applying.
  
  • Credits in Your MEDLIB-ED Transcript: If you have received a CE certificate for a DSS through MEDLIB-ED and it appears in your transcript, you do not need to attach additional evidence of course completion.
    
  • Pre-Approved Credits Taken Outside of MEDLIB-ED: If you have received a certification of completion or other evidence of course completion from an approved DSS course that is not listed in MEDLIB-ED, submit a certificate of course completion with your application.
    
  • Credit for Activities Not Pre-Approved for DSS: If you have taken a course, a Discussion Group activity, or an Independent Reading Program activity that is not pre-approved for DSS and would like to have it considered for meeting a DSS requirement, please fill out an Individual Participant Request (IPR) form and submit it with your application. You may request credit for offerings that do not issue certificates of completion.

What is the Price for a DSS Application?

MLA charges a modest fee (members: $99; nonmembers: $129) for reviewing applications and granting certificates. The cost of courses that satisfy the requirements for the certificates is determined by course owners. Courses offered by the Network of the National Library of Medicine are free.

NNLM generously sponsors the DSS application fee for library staff and students. NNLM sponsorships are available for those within any region of the NNLM. Visit this Google form to apply for NNLM to cover your application fee.

MLA will process the application and, on approval, send you a notification letter and certificate recognizing your level of achievement.

We encourage you to Promote Your Accomplishment with a press release your public relations office can publish in your organization’s newsletter and local papers, print and digital. Customize the release to highlight your unique DSS-related achievements.

Instructors: Get Your Course Approved for DSS

Only courses that serve the Data Services competency can be approved for DSS. To have your course considered for DSS, select “Data Services” in the Specialization Consideration when you submit a course for MLA CE approval.  Contact the MLA Professional Development department for more information.

Application available shortly.