In the absence of in-person services, NC State University Libraries are offering virtual appointments to help with data visualization through Zoom and emails with data specialists. According to the NC State University Libraries website, accurate and creative data visualization can uncover new patterns and relationships in gathered data, as well as communicate the findings more clearly to an audience. 

Communication rhetoric and digital media Ph.D. student, Kelsey Dufresne, has been working as a data science consultant since August, helping people in the NC State community with their projects.

According to Dufresne, virtual Zoom appointments offer students an abundant amount of resources, support and guidance on students’ research Dufresne encourages students who are interested in these services  to schedule an appointment with a data science consultant through the program, even if they are unsure about how the information they learn will help them. 

“You may not even know how you want to implement any kind of data visualization until you start really talking it through with someone,” Dufresne said. “It’s a very exciting multimodal way to demonstrate what you’re doing.

Karen Ciccone, the department head of data and visualization services, said the data science consultants have expertise in the subject, allowing students to get very valuable information from the sessions for free.  

Prior to the University’s shift to online learning, data consulting was located in the data space at James B. Hunt Jr. Library and the data point table at D.H. Hill Jr. Library. The data experience lab at D.H. Hill Jr. Library, which opened in August, will also be used for the program once in-person appointments resume. 

The data science and visualization department also holds workshops, many of which are still available online. Workshops cover specific programs like SAS, Python and MATLAB.

Ciccone said the shift online allowed the program to expand in new ways.

“In a way, it was an opportunity to explore offering remote appointments, which was something that we had talked about when we were in person,” Ciccone said. “In person is obviously very convenient for some people, but for other people, being able to get help remotely is even more convenient.”

There are many options for those looking to connect with a data science consultant, including online chat, email and Zoom appointments. 

Interested students can sign up for help with data visualization or various workshops through the NC State University Libraries website.