Effective research data stewardship is essential for any research-performing organisation, yet expecting a single individual to carry responsibility for every aspect of data stewardship is neither realistic nor sustainable. Successful data stewardship depends on collaboration, bringing together a range of expertise, perspectives, and skills. In this 75-minute edition of the Data Steward Stories webinar series, we will shine a spotlight on a team who supports research data stewardship within a large institution through collaborative working.

The Research Data Management team at the Hartley Library, University of Southampton, supports researchers throughout the data lifecycle, from planning data collection and enabling data reuse to advising on storage, curation, and long-term preservation. The team also delivers training and helps shape institutional policy. Each member brings a distinct set of responsibilities and expertise from varied disciplinary and professional backgrounds, creating a high-quality service for students and staff.

The team, covering roles from Head of Research Data Management and IP, to Research Librarian, to Principal Library Assistant, will describe how their activities compliment each other to support the researchers at the university.

More about our speakers:

• Isobel Stark is Head of Research Data & Intellectual Property at the University of Southampton Library, where she leads services supporting research data management, copyright, intellectual property, theses, and wider researcher engagement activities. She has worked in academic libraries throughout her career, with previous roles at Manchester Metropolitan University, The Open University, the University of Bath, and UKOLN. At Southampton since 2005, she has played a key role in developing research data support and open research practices. Isobel is also a co-investigator on the Careers and Skills for Data-driven Research (CaSDaR) Network+, helping to advance the recognition and professional development of data stewards across the UK.
• Lorrayne Smith has worked in information management throughout her career. She started as a Media Librarian at The Guardian and ITN, where she catalogued and archived news footage and print materials. She later joined the University of Southampton to work on digital asset management for MOOCs before moving into the Library’s cataloguing team. Now an Engagement Librarian specialising in research data and bibliometrics, she enjoys helping researchers understand their responsibilities and ensuring their research outputs and data are discoverable, accessible, and effectively described for future use. She is particularly interested in improving discoverability and supporting good research practice.
• Dr Anna Korzeniowska is an Engagement Librarian at the University of Southampton, where she works as part of Research Data and Open Research & Publication Practice teams. Anna’s route into working with data has not been linear. Her past jobs include, amongst others, teaching, dog training, pet behaviour counselling, and project management. Anna holds a PhD in Comparative Psychology from the University of Sussex, where she studied multimodal perception in domestic dogs. Since obtaining her PhD, Anna has worked as Open Research coordinator at the University of Surrey, Research Culture Project Manager at the University of Southampton and Research Culture Manager at eLife, a life sciences journal. She also volunteers as project coordinator and committee member for open science and data management for ManyDogs, a multi lab collaboration researching domestic dog behaviour and cognition.
• Joseph Hand has a background in Zoology and is a Principal Library Assistant within the Research Data & Intellectual Property team at the University of Southampton Library. He contributes to research data management services and supports workflows relating to research outputs.

Tune in to found out more about their roles and how their backgrounds support their work as data stewards.