Last month I posted some news on Twitter…
Some good news to offset the bad news: I just confirmed acceptance to the #Fulbright Scholars Program! I’m going to India later this year for teaching and research 😎 #medlibs #datalibs #reprolibs
— Shirley Zhao (@zhao_shirley) January 29, 2020
The Fulbright Program, established in 1946 by Congress, is a widely recognized and prestigious international educational and cultural exchange program that’s currently active in over 160 countries. I first learned of the Program as an undergraduate student at Smith College (as a side, Smith is a top producer of student scholars!). Over the years I entertained the idea of living abroad one day, but the whole process seemed so daunting and out of reach. Ten years later I submitted my application for the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship. The official project proposal I submitted:
Title
Developing Data-Ready Librarians to Support Data-Driven Research: A Case Study in South India
Abstract
In an era of data-powered health and data-driven research, it is essential that health sciences librarians and information science professionals have the capability and capacity to meet the evolving needs of the scientific communities they support. For this project I plan to use my research to inform my teaching. My primary research project is an exploration of research data support from academic health sciences libraries and education for students and professionals in library and information sciences in a developing nation. I plan to teach short courses and organize seminars and workshops of interest. Dissemination of this work will include presentations and publications.
If you’ve been following me on Twitter for the last few years, it will be no surprise to you that the project is an extension of the work I’ve been doing with creating educational opportunities for health sciences librarians to develop their skills in data support. I’ve been working with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Training Office (NTO) to develop and teach courses on research data management, data science, and open science. I’ve also participated in a National Library of Medicine-sponsored workshop on developing the librarian workforce for data science and open science and am currently part of a Medical Library Association (MLA) working group to develop a data services competency and specialization.
I am excited to join Professor Devika P. Madalli in research and teaching activities and plan to be based at the Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC) within the Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore from July through December 2020. DRTC is a premier teaching and research center within library and information sciences (LIS) in India and was established in 1962 by the father of modern LIS, S. R. Ranganathan. I remember learning his five laws of library science in my foundational LIS course.
I believe I am the first health sciences/data librarian to travel and study in India. Much of my current professional network is based in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Hence, this Fulbright experience will extend my international collaborations while deepening my knowledge of professional practices. I’m already connecting with other librarians who are also Fulbrighters, and I hope that by speaking openly about it, this inspires more of us to apply for the opportunity.