Librarians and research office staff are often the first point of contact for academic researchers with research-related questions of any kind, whether or not they’re experts in a particular area. Over the past five years, they’ve particularly become the go-to for questions around working with and managing research data, including questions around intensive data analysis, working with big data, cloud computing, and more. Many of these research approaches require the use of advanced research computing (ARC) infrastructure and techniques; however, ARC infrastructure and support aren’t available at all Canadian institutions, and librarians and research staff themselves may not know about them. This session will introduce librarians and research staff to fundamentals of ARC and of ARC infrastructure in Canada so that they can better support their researchers in getting the help they need.

Topics will include:
• Some basic principles of advanced research computing, and how it differs from everyday computing
• The ARC services provided by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (including infrastructure and support)
• How to tell if a researcher needs to use ARC services
• Case studies of researchers using ARC

Learning outcomes for session attendees:
• Describe fundamental differences between advanced research computing and everyday computing
• Identify what services the Alliance provides
• Formulate questions to ask researchers to determine whether they have a need that Alliance services may meet
• Connect researchers with resources to help them get started with ARC