Data Radicals

Turning Librarians Into Supercomputers with Deb Seys, Senior Director of Learning & Communities, Alation

Oct 26, 2022

32:54

Librarians have played a crucial role in the management of data throughout history. From the halls of the Library of Alexandria to the Library of Congress all the way to your elementary school: librarians have been the guardians of our knowledge for thousands of years. But now that we’re in the digital age…has that role shifted? That’s what we’re exploring today.

Deb Seys, Senior Director of Learning and Communities at Alation, is a passionate librarian who has made the jump from the dewey decimal system to the data catalogue. She shares with us how data is the most powerful tool in a librarian’s arsenal, how data can better your user experience, the steps to finding the best answers for any question, and much more.

--------

"One of the most misunderstood things about data is that it’s this objective hard thing that sits there and reveals something. It’s just not true at all. A lot of the work of documenting metrics is about what's important to a group of people, and then using that to tell a story or make a decision." - Deb Seys

--------

Time Stamps

* (0:00) How librarians have championed data for millennia

* (4:25) The modern-day librarian’s biggest ally is the data catalogue

* (8:24) Understanding the basics of data

* (14:45) How to be a data-driven librarian

* (17:09) The relationship between data and user experience at eBay

* (22:04) The secret to finding the right answers

* (26:52) Creating the right data mindset

--------

Sponsor

This podcast is presented by Alation.