Wendy G. Pothier, Associate Professor, Business and Economics Librarian, University of New Hampshire and Patricia B. Condon, Assistant Professor, Research Data Services Librarian, University of New Hampshire named 2023 recipients of the BRASS Research Grant Award
Wendy Pothier, Business and Economics Librarian at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), and her research collaborator Patricia Condon, Research Data Services Librarian at UNH, were named the 2023 winner of the BRASS Research Grant Award, sponsored by Emerald Publishing. The winning project was, “Data in the workplace: Aligning business data literacy instruction with workforce needs.”
The proposal is for a qualitative study that uses in-depth interviews to explore how business practitioners describe their data literacy skills and how they position these skills within the context of their work. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate in what ways Ms. Pothier and Dr. Condon’s previously published business data literacy competencies move from the undergraduate classroom into workplace applications. The interviews are the second phase of a larger study – the first phase is a survey of working professionals and is currently underway. The overall aim of the research is to help inform the approach of librarians and other relevant groups in teaching data literacy for preparing business students to enter the workforce.
Wendy Pothier received the 2022 BRASS Excellence in Business Librarianship Award by Mergent by FTSE Russell. Wendy has moved into increasingly responsible roles within RUSA BRASS, including co-editor for the Academic BRASS Newsletter and is currently serving as Secretary of BRASS and as a member of BRASS Executive Committee.
Wendy and Patricia have presented their work on business data literacy at BRASS symposiums. Their 2020 publication in Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship that introduced their proposed business data literacy competencies received recognition from the American Library Association Library Instruction Round Table as a “Top Twenty” article for instruction.
Wendy and Patricia have been conducting scholarship on data literacy in the business disciplines for four years, have published two articles, and presented multiple times on their research. The aim of their research in this area is to improve data literacy skills in students in the business disciplines by delineating the data literacy competencies needed and elevating the role librarians have in data literacy instruction. They are currently conducting a research survey that explores connections between their proposed competencies and practitioner application of the competencies in workplace scenarios, with results expected to be submitted for publication in fall 2023.
Wendy Pothier is the Business and Economics Librarian at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). Her research interests include examining the relationship between information and data literacies in classroom and workplace settings and exploring pedagogical approaches for teaching business information literacy. She was a founding member of the Boston Library Consortium’s Business Community of Interest, and currently serves as past-convener of Association of College and Research Libraries Digital Badge Interest Group and Secretary of RUSA BRASS. Wendy earned an MSLS from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and an MS in International Logistics Management from Maine Maritime Academy.
Dr. Patricia Condon is the Research Data Services Librarian at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). Patti collaborates with units across campus to support the growing data management, data literacy, and open science needs of the UNH scholarly community. Her research interests include investigating the intersection of data literacy, information literacy, and discipline-specific needs and exploring the role of data management in the responsible conduct of research. She is Interim Chair of UNH’s Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarly Activity Committee and a member of UNH’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). Patti was founding co-chair of the Research Data Special Interest Group with the Association of College and Research Libraries New England Chapter. She currently serves as treasurer for Research Data Access and Preservation (RDAP). Patti earned her PhD in Library and Information Science from Simmons College, and her MLIS and MA in Anthropology from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Sponsored by Emerald Publishing, the award consists of $2,000. BRASS Research Grant Award selection committee was Chaired by Orolando Duffus.