Reflections on Librarianship and Big Data

In the NNLM Big Data in Healthcare: Exploring Emerging Roles course, we asked participants, as they progressed through the course to consider the following questions: Do you think health sciences librarians should get involved with big data in healthcare? Where should librarians get involved, if you think they should? If you think they should not, explain why. You may also combine a “should/should not” approach if you would like to argue both sides. NNLM will feature responses from different participants over the coming weeks. Written By Margaret (Peg) Burnette, Assistant Professor & Biomedical Sciences Librarian, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The world of librarianship is changing at what seems to be an ever-increasing rate. The librarian’s role has evolved from information organization and access to the provision of specialized services related to information and data quality, management, analysis, and application. Big data is here to stay and permeates both our professional and personal lives. In the era of digital content and libraries without walls, librarians grapple with new challenges in order to remain productive and relevant. And while users may no longer need help finding information, many likely need help with evaluation and management of increasingly large amounts of information and data. In many ways, the demands of big data are the same as for small data. These demands afford opportunities for librarians that naturally complement librari...
Source: NN/LM Middle Atlantic Region Blog - Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Tags: Data Science Source Type: news