Shouting from the silos: connecting to fellow data wranglers with a new CoP
VALA2024 POSTER SESSION 11
Thursday 11th July 2024, 1.20-1.35pm
Michelle Morgan
- Resource Analyst
- University of Melbourne
Wendy Campbell (not attending)
- Collection Performance Librarian
- Deakin University
Presentation: (coming soon)
Link
Abstract
In a data driven world, collecting, analysing, sharing and using data to inform decision making is critical. What does this mean for people working in libraries who have the job of wrangling collections data? The reality is these types of roles are typically small silos within their organisation and can sometimes struggle to connect with others, engage in peer-to-peer learning, build knowledge, and develop best practice. Thus emerged the need for a Community of Practice (CoP). This poster shares experiences and challenges in establishing the Library Collections Analysis CoP. Challenges Facilitating suitable collaboration platforms regardless of institutional licensing Balancing the needs of members with varying degrees of experience and expertise Providing support to members using different Library Management Systems, and usage aggregators Progress In 2023 we held 5 meetings, heard from 7 members and guests, and facilitated multiple discussions on Slack Lessons Less speakers, more discussion Recognising the need for extraordinary meetings for 2024 to deep dive into practical topics Benefits Immediacy of Slack as a forum for answering questions Breadth of topics covered Polls and opportunity for consensus Where to next… The Community has proven its worth in its first year and we’re excited for opportunities for further development
Biographies
Michelle Morgan (she/her) qualified as a Librarian in 2007. Since then, she has worked across both the public and academic library sectors and has also worked for a couple of vendors. In August 2022 Michelle started in her current role as Resources Analyst at the University of Melbourne. Michelle is a data enthusiast and seeks to wrangle and present data in meaningful ways to assist in decision making and to help the library showcase the resources and services that they provide.
Michelle is one of the Co-Convenors of the CAUL Library Collections Analysis Community of Practice, launched mid-2023.
Wendy Campbell (she/her) is a Librarian with 12 years’ experience working in academic library acquisitions, metadata, discovery, access, special collections, project management, and now specialising in collection analytics and analysis. As Collection Performance Librarian at Deakin University Library, Wendy is responsible for the collection, evaluation, and tracking of analytics and information related to the use, quality and performance of collections. She prides herself on the development of tools, workflows and visualisations to enhance the efficiency and value of data collection activities.
Wendy is one of the inaugural Co-convenors of the CAUL Library Collections Analysis Community of Practice, launched in 2023.
This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International.