Harvard-MIT Data Center consultants and data fellows work closely to help users accessing and analyzing their data. Consultation may include, but is not limited to: getting started to statistical software programs, introduction to basic statistical analyses, setting up advanced statistical analyses in particular packages, choosing statistical software, or general statistical advice.

Consultation may be obtained by phone, e-mail, and during office hours. Office hours are held from 4-5 M-F (excluding holidays) in room S306. Other times are by appointment. Harvard students and faculty are strongly encouraged to contact our consultants via e-mail first. MIT users should contact the consultant using this email form.

Consulting Services Policy:
The Harvard-MIT Data Center and Numeric Data Services (Harvard College Library) serve the research and instructional needs of the Harvard community through the online provision of data collections and analysis tools, reference services, and hardware and software to access data. Our goal is to help users become proficient in accessing and working with numeric data for their research needs.

Data librarians assist users in locating and accessing numeric data from the collections of Littauer Library, Government Documents and Microforms Library, the Harvard Map Collection, the Harvard-MIT Data Center, other libraries at Harvard, and beyond. The HMDC Data Fellow assists users in working with data and getting started on statistical software programs.

One-on-one service to users:
Through ready reference or in-depth research consultations with Data librarians or the HMDC Data Fellow via e-mail or in-person, our services:

• Help users identify data files and different sources and formats of data
• Help users access data files
• Help users understand structure and layout of files through the use of codebooks and other guides
• Help users get started on data downloading, extraction and online subsetting
• Help users choose and get started on appropriate statistical software for a data set
• Help users with re-formatting data from standard formats, using standard data manipulation software such as DBMS/Copy
• Refer users to HMDC web site for sample programs, step-by-step instructions and tutorials for working with data

Users who are new to research using statistical packages should consult with their teaching fellows or faculty members for advice and should familiarize themselves with the basics of numeric data files before beginning a consultation with the Data Center or Library. Users will be expected to perform their own statistical analyses, interpret the results and produce the finished output. HMDC and Numeric Data Services offer basic data classes on a regular basis.

HMDC and the Numeric Data Services attempt to obtain data from reliable sources; however, we cannot guarantee that all files are trouble-free. Users are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the methods used to collect and disseminate the data files.

Working with data takes time and users should allow sufficient time to acquire and manipulate the data for use in their research projects.