Scanning the Data Environment at the University of Massachusetts Medical School

Environmental scanning constitutes a primary mode of organizational learning” (Choo 1999). In a step toward active development of research data support services for its community, the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School has undertaken extensive environmental scanning to better understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of an academic biomedical institution with respect to research data. Given the variety of potential data services that an academic library may deploy, the information gathered from these activities will identify and prioritize new library activities.