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Data Services

The Brown University Library is committed to supporting data-driven research and teaching through an array of services and programs. Use this guide to discover and explore our offerings.

Welcome! The CLEAR Data Services team is a small hub of library data science practitioners who can support you with a broad range of data and coding needs. We provide comprehensive support for finding, processing, and analyzing data (particularly geospatial, census, socio-economic, financial, and environmental). We also collaborate with other Library departments that specialize in distinct areas of data services.

Explore our list of data services below, and reach out to the contact listed. We've also included services offered by our library colleagues, and other units on campus.

Primary services

 Data Discovery

Find the data you need for your project, assignment, thesis, or teaching. Data Services can help you identify and access the library’s extensive resources as well as open data sources (and cite it once you find it!).

Learn more: Social Science Data Resources

Reach out for individual guidance: SocSciLibrarians@brown.edu

 Data Processing 

Once you have your data, how do you get it ready for your research project? Data Services can support you with cleaning messy data, transforming data between formats, interpreting and using codebooks, and other data processing tasks.

Reach out for individual guidance: SocSciLibrarians@brown.edu

For researchers in the digital humanities, contact cds@brown.edu

 Coding and Scripting for Data Science 

You can consult with us about coding for your research projects. Data Services provide consultation on code projects, including pair coding, debugging, querying data from an API, and more. Languages we support include: R, Python, STATA, SQL, and supportive tech (bash/shell, git, etc.)

Reach out for individual guidance: SocSciLibrarians@brown.edu

For researchers in the digital humanities, contact cds@brown.edu

 Sharing, Managing, and Organizing Research Data

Whether it’s writing a data management statement for a grant proposal, submitting your research data to an open access repository, or simply providing advice with organizing your data files, the Research Data Management team can can help! For a self-paced tutorial, visit the Data Management research guide.

Learn more and get in touch: Research Data Management

Specialized data services

 Digital Scholarship Projects

The Center for Digital Scholarship offers a robust program and an array of services that fosters an academic community of digital scholars and humanists at Brown. Visit a Digital Humanities Salon, take a workshop, schedule a consultation for advice on methods and tools, and explore possible collaborations for long term projects and digital publications.

Learn more about digital scholarship methodologies: Digital Scholarship Resources

Contact the experts: cds_info@brown.edu

 GIS, Mapping, and Census

Data Services can assist with scoping a GIS and mapping project, finding and processing data, and using geospatial methods and tools. If you are new to GIS, we can help get you started! We can also guide you with navigating census data, web mapping databases, and digital map collections. 

Learn More: GIS Research Guide, US Census Research Guide

Visit us and contact our GIS experts: GeoData@SciLi 

 Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Data Analysis

Need support on projects that include interviews, surveys, texts/posts/documents, and other types of qualitative and mixed methods analysis? The Data Services team can help you plan and design the data collection, data processing, and data analysis phases of your project.

We can onboard you to NVivo as a software platform for managing qualitative coding, as well as support approaches using R, Python, and STATA.

Reach out for individual guidance: SocSciLibrarians@brown.edu

 Text and Data Mining (TDM)

Access platforms like ProQuest TDM Studio to gather, download, clean, and analyze large collections of texts such as newspaper articles and peer-reviewed publications. The interdisciplinary TDM Team supports access to a broad range of open text data, as well as text-based content like social media posts. The team can further advise on text analysis methods like topic modeling and sentiment analysis.

Learn more: Text Mining Resources

Contact our text data experts: datamining@brown.edu 

Other applications and resources

 AI Applications in Research & Learning

Generative AI tools are in a state of rapid development, and new information about applications, policies, and social impact is released each day.

Learn about (and join) the Library’s Critical AI Learning Community: Generative AI Resource Guide

 Accessing and Downloading Software

Brown’s Office of Information Technology procures desktop software and cloud-based solutions for teaching and research. Visit the software catalog to download software, and contact OIT’s Software Services with questions about purchasing and licensing.

For help downloading and accessing items in the catalog, contact OIT: Software_Services@brown.edu

For questions about using software in research and learning, contact: SocSciLibrarians@brown.edu

 High-power Computing

Are you struggling to complete your big data research on your small laptop? The Center for Computation and Visualization (CCV) can assist you with accessing high performance computing, storing and transferring large quantities of data, and applying research methods that are suitable for analyzing big data.

Learn more: CCV Services

Library departments that work with data