I have a lot of experience converting data from one format to another. Merging companies, software migrations, and changing leadership standards are just a few reasons why I’ve found data conversion so commonplace in my past career. When I read that MARC stood for “machine readable cataloging record,” I was immediately intrigued by the possibility of decoding MARC records with some form of automation. I decided to take on the challenge and realized quickly just how densely pa

The Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records was a fascinating look into a conceptual data model with which I had little prior familiarity. With software, I feel it is easy to get stuck in the headspace of a specific use case, and build practical data models only for what’s needed for the function of the application. When reading about FRBR, I realized that starting at the conceptual level could help “future proof” a data model. This visual from the FRBR reading was

For me, the biggest tensions in designing the data schema and policies around a social application were around those of maintaining privacy while being able to enforce safety. When I was designing my application, I originally did not include identifiers such as legal name, IP address, or browser cookies that could help distinguish between users. I wanted users to stay in control of their data and to be able to delete their entire accounts. In designing the safety policy, I re

When talking about geographic data, it is hard for me to separate the aspects of a place from the aspects of the time in which it exists and the context in which the information about it will be used. Am I attempting to navigate to this place? Am I describing where it is relative to other places? Am I describing the land itself or the nations or peoples that claim it? For this assignment, I attempted to describe each coordinate as you may find it on Google Maps or Wikipedia a

I had used Zotero last quarter to help me track, cite, and provide my sources to others. Zotero was already installed, so my first action was to create an organizational structure using folders so that my new LIS 530 data had its own place. My “Readings_export” folder that I dragged and dropped into Zotero. I decided to upload my entire “LIS 530 Readings” folder to see how Zotero would handle the data. It was my first time using the drag and drop feature with PDFs, and I was