My name is Natalie Lau, I am currently the Scholarly Communications Librarian at Seton Hall University located in South Orange, New Jersey. This was my second time attending the RDAP Summit. This year’s theme of Practical, Personalized, Impactful: Research Data in the Real World was heavily interesting to me because my current position is active in our Research Data Services (RDS). This year’s theme resonated with me as I am interested in the practical aspects of our RDS, especially in the actionable services we can offer as well as the personal nature of consultations versus workshops and, of course, the impact that RDS can have in scholarship and research. The work that RDS does can be felt so palpably at times and being able to support scholarship and research in the way that we do is felt but often not seen as impactful at times. 

I enjoyed Session 7B, “Reconsidering Direct Charge Models for Research Data Services”. I had been aware of charges for services in academic libraries, one topic I recall discussing in library school was revenue generation from the academic libraries. However, this session was different from that topic and serves as an expansion of a conversation that I think a lot of academic librarians discuss.

I enjoyed the poster session the most about the Summit. I loved the poster session when I attended the 2024 Summit for the first time so I was especially excited to see what this year’s entailed. I like the poster sessions because of the breakout room modality: I love that it provides a smaller space to ask questions and discuss topics and results with the poster presenters! I really enjoyed the poster “Generative AI, the Data Lifecycle, and Hard Science Applications” by Coryn Millander and Sara M. Samuel. While I am not a science librarian, I found the applications with the data lifecycle to be interesting and pertinent.

I do tend to feel that conferences are great for professional development and I love the environment of them to foster and nurture relationships across the country, and sometimes across the world. Since I am still under five years in librarianship, staying up to date with cutting edge work and talking with others in the field has proven to be invaluable. I would like to thank the RDAP Awards Task Force and Sponsorship Action Committee for this opportunity!