Changes coming to Books by Mail: Starting in fall 2025, Books by Mail items will only be shipped to addresses in the contiguous United States 50 miles or further from campus. We will make exceptions for students, faculty, and staff with disabilities. Learn more.

Fisher restoration: Fisher Fine Arts Library is open and operating normally during ongoing exterior work. Find more details about this important restoration project.

RDDS's Mission

Research Data and Digital Scholarship (RDDS) is a department in the Penn Libraries that serves the Penn community and beyond. We support the mission of Penn Libraries and its strategic plan, Knowledge for Life, and the University of Pennsylvania’s In Principle and Practice.

We provide instruction, offer consultations, and develop shared resources to facilitate research and prepare students to be educated citizens of the world. We are a hub for geospatial information and mapping, data management, data science, statistical software, qualitative data analysis, text and data mining, AI and machine learning, digital publishing, digital scholarship projects, and steward Penn’s institutional repository. 

We provide community space for learning and practicing these areas of expertise called the Research Data & Digital Scholarship Exchange (RDDSx). Collaborating with campus and community partners, we advocate for ethical scholarly practice throughout the data and digital scholarship lifecycles. We support the creation and dissemination of traditional as well as cutting-edge scholarly outputs, and advocate for the thoughtful and informed use of emerging technologies in our fields of expertise. We work to influence the development of policy and best practices across the campus related to research data and digital scholarship

RDDS's Vision

Research Data & Digital Scholarship is recognized as a hub for ethical research, drawing on our deep multidisciplinary expertise. Our team members are key collaborators in research, instruction, and service across Penn, Philadelphia, and our professional and global communities. Through our commitment to open principles, we advocate for a broader scholarly community, making knowledge and tools accessible for all.

RDDS's Values

  • Intentionality
  • Curiosity
  • Sustainability
  • Transparency
  • Trust
  • Accountability

Maps and More

Campus Libraries Map

Staff Information

Resources for Staff Committees