The library and information science field is a constantly growing and changing field. I am positioned well to enter my new field, thanks to the education I have received at the University of Tennessee, as well as my background as a civil engineer. I bring into my new career core concepts of library and information science that apply to data curation.
Three core concepts guide my future aspirations in the field of data curation. The core concept of information access encourages dataset publishing, sharing, citation, and management. The recent directive by the White House Office on Science and Technology Policy makes dataset access imperative. The core concept of metadata applies to dataset documentation. Without metadata datasets are useless to anyone not involved in the project. Last, the core concept of information literacy applies in a narrower sense to data information literacy. Students of science must learn the specialized skills to management data properly if their data will be ready for long term preservation once their projects are complete. These skills must be learned alongside the skills for their scientific field to become integrated into their knowledge base and synthesized fully.
The three core concepts of library and information science I have chosen to articulate are the following. Click on each for a detailed discussion.
- Information access – traditionally, free and open access to information by anyone. Opposition to censorship. Includes issues such as copyright, open access, and privacy.
- Metadata – structured information about an object or resource. Examples of metadata standards are Dublin Core, Darwin Core, and Encoded Archival Description.
- Information literacy – skills for finding the information one needs, including familiarity with the library and its resources and the ability to evaluate what one finds.