If I asked somebody what a data culture is, they would probably look at me with a disinterested, glazed expression, followed closely by a mumbled, “I don’t know.”
And they may not really care either.
I feel like most people tend to see the word “data” as a very scary and intimidating word, and this prevents them from learning about just how useful and informative data can really be. Most people also tend to think that data is strictly quantitative information, such as numerical statistics. However, data can be text as well (such as emails, interview notes and media reports), which is qualitative data.
When analyzed, data provides ideas and solutions to various problems and situations. This ties into data culture and the benefits it can bring to a company or organization.
A data culture is an organization that uses data to make decisions to improve themselves. Some business leaders may prefer to make decisions based on gut instinct, ignoring data because their way just “makes more sense” (at least to them it does). A data-driven organization follows the path that makes the most sense in correlation with the data, even if it doesn’t necessarily make sense from a conventional standpoint. This has proven to be far more strategic and efficient. Erik Brynjolfsson et al. al. from MIT’s Sloan School of Management conducted a study that showed data-driven organizations to have a five to six percent higher output and productivity than other systems in which organizations tend to go with what they “feel” is the best path.
The Data Culture Project provides a great method for learning how data can be useful and how to connect with others through detailed analysis. The Data Process described below is a step-by-step system from the Data Culture Project that details how to bring about a more data-oriented workplace. The OSU Library is piloting the Data Culture Project this semester and plans to offer it in the future for those who are interested.
The Data Process:
#1: Warmups
Anytime you get a group together for a team-building exercise, warmups are a great way to get things started. Quick and creative activities that help to establish a feeling of comfort and informality allow participants to be invested and confident, leading to more engagement, which leads to more results in the long run.
#2: Asking Questions
This is the first step in analyzing data. When we look at a data set, there are plenty of questions to be asked, and there are plenty of questions to be answered. Colleagues are divided into small groups to analyze a data set and develop insightful observations and questions. Now, this exercise isn’t particularly about answering any questions that are asked, but it is instead about thinking creatively to generate stimulating questions.
#3: Gathering Data
This step goes hand-in-hand with the previous step. Data is difficult to interpret sometimes, even more so when the data is wrong or unorganized. You might need to combine multiple data sets as well, because a single data set may not be able to answer every question.
#4: Analyzing Data
Oh no, here comes the hard stuff!
Not really, but this is how many people feel when it comes to analyzing data. There are many different ways to analyze data because there are many different types of data. If you’re having a hard time trying to figure out a data set, maybe you just aren’t using the right method for you! Analyzing data with colleagues leads to a combination of different ideas to maintain positive trends.
#5: Telling Your Story
This is the fun part of the process (as if you weren’t having fun before). This allows you to be creative while explaining a data set to colleagues. Various types of displays such as sketches and word webs communicate the context of the data through a narrative. This also allows abstract ideas and numbers to be represented by a concrete visual display.
#6: Try It Out
The final step is simple: just try it out! This answers many questions you may have about your developed story and the data backing it. Is the data understandable? Does the story make sense? Is it compelling? The idea of narrating your data is to influence your audience, informing and propelling them into action to improve the data.
A data-driven culture isn’t something that immediately happens, and it definitely isn’t something that has immediate results. It requires cooperation and understanding among colleagues, and the entire organization needs access to data in order to practice analyzing and interpreting it. In addition, data literacy must be encouraged so that each member of the organization can effectively contribute to improving and developing a collective network to help make important decisions.
Posted by Braiden Ellis, student staff member, Research and Learning Services
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Monday, October 22, 2018
Relax and Read at the Library
Everyone knows that college is a hectic time. Tests, papers, meetings and more fill our days, and often the most relaxing thing we do is sleep. Sometimes.
But one year ago, some at the Edmon Low Library set out to change that. This week, I sat down with Whitney Vitale, the assistant head of access services at the Edmon Low Library, to learn more about the inception of the Relax and Read Collection and why it is so beneficial for students.
The Relax and Read Collection began in the fall of 2017 after a few employees at the library wanted to create a space for students to relax and get away from the stress of school.
“We wanted to capitalize on this work-life balance issue and support the students,” Whitney said. “What can make life a little easier and help with self-care?”
Whitney plays a vital role in curating the collections. She orders books, both fiction and nonfiction, which will appeal to a variety of students. The library already receives copies of the New York bestsellers, but Whitney also places orders for cookbooks or patron requests.
More than anything, the goal of the Relax and Read is just that – to help people relax.
“Students need that time to get away mentally and decompress,” Whitney said. “It can be hard to do that, and I think that this is a way they can have those few minutes or hours to get away from their troubles.”
While the collection will continue to morph and change to adapt to patron needs, the goal will always remain the same.
”We want to take care of the non-academic half of the patrons,” Whitney said.
If there’s a book or genre you’d like to see in the Relax and Read Collection, talk to anyone at the Circulation Desk or feel free to contact Whitney directly.
Posted by Jenny Berry, electronic communications intern
But one year ago, some at the Edmon Low Library set out to change that. This week, I sat down with Whitney Vitale, the assistant head of access services at the Edmon Low Library, to learn more about the inception of the Relax and Read Collection and why it is so beneficial for students.
The Relax and Read Collection began in the fall of 2017 after a few employees at the library wanted to create a space for students to relax and get away from the stress of school.
“We wanted to capitalize on this work-life balance issue and support the students,” Whitney said. “What can make life a little easier and help with self-care?”
Whitney plays a vital role in curating the collections. She orders books, both fiction and nonfiction, which will appeal to a variety of students. The library already receives copies of the New York bestsellers, but Whitney also places orders for cookbooks or patron requests.
More than anything, the goal of the Relax and Read is just that – to help people relax.
“Students need that time to get away mentally and decompress,” Whitney said. “It can be hard to do that, and I think that this is a way they can have those few minutes or hours to get away from their troubles.”
While the collection will continue to morph and change to adapt to patron needs, the goal will always remain the same.
”We want to take care of the non-academic half of the patrons,” Whitney said.
If there’s a book or genre you’d like to see in the Relax and Read Collection, talk to anyone at the Circulation Desk or feel free to contact Whitney directly.
Posted by Jenny Berry, electronic communications intern
Monday, October 8, 2018
For the Love of Maps
Not many people can truly say that their childhood interest in video games led them to their future career. Yet for Kevin Dyke, the head of the Maps and Spatial Data department in the library, that’s exactly what happened.
This week, I sat down with Kevin, and we discussed how he got started in mapping, some of his work at the Edmon Low Library and his ideas for the future of Maps and Spatial Data.
“When I was a kid playing video games, I fell in love with the interactive maps that you would use playing different games,” Kevin said. “That was my first real foray into loving maps.”
From there, his passion only continued to grow. After studying history at Truman State University, he got his master’s in geography with an emphasis in geographic information science at the University of Minnesota. Eventually, Kevin and his wife both found jobs at OSU and moved to Stillwater.
Shortly after he began working at OSU in August 2016, he hosted his first Mapping 101 workshop. Mapping 101 has become widely popular since the first workshop. The students dive into the basics of geographic information systems (GIS) and different types of maps. In the future, Kevin hopes to expand his workshop offerings to other topics, like data visualization and coding languages, such as HTML, JavaScript and CSS.
“I want things that people will enjoy,” Kevin said. “I think these topics would be well received. For anyone in academia, there’s always uses for those sorts of skills.”
We also discussed the advancements he’s made in Maps and Spatial Data thanks to the generous donations of the McCasland Foundation. The gifts of the foundation have allowed Kevin and his team to digitize almost 2,000 maps. The McCasland Digital Maps Collection alone boasts nearly 40,000 page views.
“It’s been a long, fruitful relationship with the McCasland Foundation,” Kevin said.
And the digital maps aren’t just for OSU faculty, staff and students. The public can access the maps too. In fact, Kevin recalls chatting with people from as far as California who want to use the maps in their publications. The maps are part of the Congressional Serial Set, so they are public domain.
“When we get requests for a map, we provide people an archival quality digital copy at no cost,” Kevin said. “As a land grant institution, we’re here to serve the public.”
He is also in the process of perfecting a software he developed that allows users to select an area of land and find historic maps of that area. For example, if you wanted to see maps of the OSU campus from 1950, you could select the current campus area and the software would pull the maps from the digital collection that most closely resemble that space – “all within 150 milliseconds,” Kevin said.
If you ever need a copy of a map or simply have questions about something you’ve seen online in the digital collections, do not hesitate to reach out to Kevin! After speaking with him, it was very clear to me that he is extremely passionate about maps and helping other people love and understand them too. He’s knowledgeable, excited and more than willing to help anyone with their research.
The basement, where Maps and Spatial Data is located, is currently under construction. But you can reach Kevin through email or by setting up an appointment with him.
405-744-9731
Lib-map@okstate.edu
Posted by Jenny Berry, electronic communications intern
This week, I sat down with Kevin, and we discussed how he got started in mapping, some of his work at the Edmon Low Library and his ideas for the future of Maps and Spatial Data.
“When I was a kid playing video games, I fell in love with the interactive maps that you would use playing different games,” Kevin said. “That was my first real foray into loving maps.”
Shortly after he began working at OSU in August 2016, he hosted his first Mapping 101 workshop. Mapping 101 has become widely popular since the first workshop. The students dive into the basics of geographic information systems (GIS) and different types of maps. In the future, Kevin hopes to expand his workshop offerings to other topics, like data visualization and coding languages, such as HTML, JavaScript and CSS.
“I want things that people will enjoy,” Kevin said. “I think these topics would be well received. For anyone in academia, there’s always uses for those sorts of skills.”
We also discussed the advancements he’s made in Maps and Spatial Data thanks to the generous donations of the McCasland Foundation. The gifts of the foundation have allowed Kevin and his team to digitize almost 2,000 maps. The McCasland Digital Maps Collection alone boasts nearly 40,000 page views.
“It’s been a long, fruitful relationship with the McCasland Foundation,” Kevin said.
And the digital maps aren’t just for OSU faculty, staff and students. The public can access the maps too. In fact, Kevin recalls chatting with people from as far as California who want to use the maps in their publications. The maps are part of the Congressional Serial Set, so they are public domain.
He is also in the process of perfecting a software he developed that allows users to select an area of land and find historic maps of that area. For example, if you wanted to see maps of the OSU campus from 1950, you could select the current campus area and the software would pull the maps from the digital collection that most closely resemble that space – “all within 150 milliseconds,” Kevin said.
If you ever need a copy of a map or simply have questions about something you’ve seen online in the digital collections, do not hesitate to reach out to Kevin! After speaking with him, it was very clear to me that he is extremely passionate about maps and helping other people love and understand them too. He’s knowledgeable, excited and more than willing to help anyone with their research.
The basement, where Maps and Spatial Data is located, is currently under construction. But you can reach Kevin through email or by setting up an appointment with him.
405-744-9731
Lib-map@okstate.edu
Posted by Jenny Berry, electronic communications intern
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
What I've Learned While Working at the Library
This week on the blog, I'm discussing some of the things I've discovered since I began working in the library. I decided to use some of the equipment I've learned about and create my very first vlog! I hope that you can learn something, too.
If you’d like to learn more about the resources I discussed in my vlog, check them out here!
Creative Studios: bit.ly/2CeZENj
Tech Tuesday: bit.ly/2pp3lvN
Mango: bit.ly/2C04Fy6
Relax and Read: bit.ly/2w4JW7C
Posted by Jenny Berry, electronic communications intern
If you’d like to learn more about the resources I discussed in my vlog, check them out here!
Creative Studios: bit.ly/2CeZENj
Tech Tuesday: bit.ly/2pp3lvN
Mango: bit.ly/2C04Fy6
Relax and Read: bit.ly/2w4JW7C
Posted by Jenny Berry, electronic communications intern
Monday, September 10, 2018
Unlocking Creativity
New opportunities to use innovative technologies
In a world full of rapidly-developing technology, it can be overwhelming trying to keep up. But the Edmon Low Creative Studios makes it easy for you to stay in the loop. In addition to utilizing and growing your creative abilities, you can gain hands-on experience with a variety of technologies that can benefit you in your respective career paths.
The Creative Studios hosts a plethora of innovative technology that you can access year-round: 3-D printers, virtual reality suites, the recording studio and more! And these resources are not only for academic use. You can use them for personal projects, too. Explore your creativity in a whole new way.
While I may not be the most tech-savvy person on campus, I have definitely learned a lot and ventured out of my comfort zone in the Creative Studios. By using equipment that I have checked out at the Tech to Go desk, I’ve been able to push myself creatively and gain skills I did not yet have.
More recently, I checked out a camera to work on a few personal projects. I am a novice photographer, but it is something I’ve always wanted to explore more. I took home the camera, snapped a few shots and uploaded them to my computer. I can assure you, they looked much better than my amateur cellphone photography.
And while I am continuing to dabble in the land of digital photography, I also hope to venture into videography. The Tech to Go desk has camcorders available that I plan to test out soon.
Another aspect of the Creative Studios that I love are the 3-D printers. Seven 3D printers are available to bring your designs to life. Whether you’re an aspiring architect, artist, interior designer or engineer, students in various fields may benefit from this technology. The possibilities to what you can create are limitless. Jewelry, furniture models, a miniature Edmon Low Library (this may or may not have been done already) and virtually anything you can dream can be printed.
For the more musically-inclined students, there is a small recording studio available. You can reserve the room and use the Yamaha CP40 Stage Piano, the Presonus Studiolive 16-channel Audio Mixer and the Audio Technica Direct-Drive Professional Turntable. Maybe you’ll create the next hit song of 2018.
If you’ve ever dreamed of starting your own podcast or TV show, reserve the Recording and Presentation Studio and get started. Or check out a microphone or a recorder and work from home.
High-powered Macs and PCs are available for use in the Creative Studios. Edit your photos, videos, podcasts or whatever masterpieces you’ve created.
If the thought of using any new technology sounds at all frightening, don’t worry. The employees in the Creative Studios are knowledgeable and friendly. They are always there to help you figure out any issues or answer questions. You can also find a few equipment and software guides on the Creative Studios website.
Whether your passions lie in music, designing, broadcasting, photography or more, when you visit the Edmon Low Creative Studios, you will walk away inspired. I know I did.
Posted by Jenny Berry, electronic communications intern
Monday, July 23, 2018
Learning about Agriculture Data and Databases
In June, I attended a conference called Driving Innovation through Data in Agriculture. It was an enjoyable and interesting experience, combining researchers and librarians onsite at the National Agricultural Library (NAL). There were several things that I brought back with me for further discussion. One of them was that I learned quite a bit about the different agriculture specific databases that the USDA manages. They are all public and provide different specialty products and can be accessed through the National Agricultural Library website. The NAL is responsible for building an integrated portfolio of knowledge products that can be used by the general public, researchers and those working in agriculture.
The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Data Overview (LTAR) database publishes the data and information generated through the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Network, a partnership of 18 research sites across the United States. They focus on building knowledge that will make agriculture sustainable and examining the environmental impacts of farming practices. The data generated is “Common Observatory Data” or CORe observational data and research data from management studies with crops and livestock. It compares current practices to experimental practices to determine the effects of the changes. Available data types from LTAR include site photographs, weather and aerial images for the research stations as well as data sets and reports published by LTAR. It has an average of 50 years of historical data. LTAR maintains the data to be sure that it is FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable. It is hosted at the Ag Data Commons repository and the Geospatial Platform. The Ag Data Commons is the central registry for USDA data and provides links to any data that is housed outside of the repository, including data that is first uploaded to agency sites and provides citable DOI’s for each dataset. The Geospatial Platform provides curation for GIS data but is cross referenced and linked with both Ag Data Commons and Data.gov, the government’s one stop shop for all government sponsored data.
Some of the other specialized USDA data bases include the Life Cycle Assessment Commons, USDA Food Composition Database, the i5 Workspace@NAL, which is a community specializing in arthropod genomes and research and Dr. Duke’s Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. Less specialized databases include the NAL catalog which covers the entire NAL collection, AGRICOLA, PubAg and NAL Digital Collections, which includes all the full text digitized materials of NAL.
I hope researchers, faculty and students will explore some of these. I would be interested to hear about any projects that utilize them. We here in the library are discussing the use of these specialized databases versus the more popular, general use ones. Feel free to post any examples and please, contact me or any of our friendly librarians if you need more information.
post by Kay Bjornen, Research Data Initiatives Librarian
Monday, May 21, 2018
Introducing Kay Bjornen: The New Research Data Initiatives Librarian
A Library Future Series post from February 13, 2017, highlighted the work done to establish data management services on the Oklahoma State campus. The post explained the survey and data collection process that was used to identify needs and target services that were most needed by researchers here at OSU. Since then there have been several important developments.
One of them is that I was hired to serve as a full-time data services librarian. My name is Kay Bjornen, and I joined the library as a Research Data Initiatives Librarian in February. I bring a Ph.D. in chemistry and a long career in research and data management with me. Since research support and data management are my sole responsibilities (at least for now), I have had the opportunity to knock on doors and introduce myself to many of the departments on campus that carry on data intensive research. I want to make sure that faculty and students know I am here, and I am anxious to assist with any needs they may have. If I haven’t made it to your department yet, feel free to reach out. Or just hold tight, I plan to get there as soon as possible.
One of the questions I have been asked is "Why is the library doing this?" The answer is research is changing and so are libraries. Researchers have access to a wealth of information resources and need less assistance to conduct their literature searches, chase down interlibrary loan items and answer reference questions. Information is increasingly online and digital so librarians are comfortable with electronic information sources of all kinds. It is also true that in the era of "Big Data," there are more and more challenges in managing research outputs. These include describing, storing, securing, organizing and sharing data. The library is a natural partner in these things. That’s why we are working to get the word out about the services we offer.
I am excited to be here at OSU and anxious to contribute to the research community. Do you have any questions about how the library can help you with your research? Feel free to post them here or check out the research data services we offer on the library website. My contact information is there and so is a consultation form you can fill out with the information I need to help you with your research data dilemma.
Post by Kay Bjornen, Research Data Initiatives Librarian
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