Servicios de datos: función estratégica de las bibliotecas del siglo XXI

This article highlights the opportunity that libraries have to transform and develop their services towards the management and exploitation of data. After setting the scene in the introduction, the article provides a definition of library data services and explains the meaning of term “data” in multiple settings. In order to prove that data services within libraries are not uncommon, the evolution of these types of services is analysed: from the initial social science data libraries to the current research data management services and data curation. This leads to expanding the role of data services as a strategic area for the analysis of the organizational knowledge, always led by libraries. The article finishes by looking at the new professionals, their skills and the background required to provide this new library data service