Data Science For Librarians

This unique textbook intersects traditional library science with data science principles that readers will find useful in implementing or improving data services within their libraries. Data Science for Librarians introduces data science to students and practitioners in library services. Writing for academic, public, and school library managers; library science students; and library and information science educators, authors Yunfei Du and Hammad Rauf Khan provide a thorough overview of conceptual and practical tools for data librarian practice. Partially due to how quickly data science evolves, libraries have yet to recognize core competencies and skills required to perform the job duties of a data librarian. As society transitions from the information age into the era of big data, librarians and information professionals require new knowledge and skills to stay current and take on new job roles, such as data librarianship. Such skills as data curation, research data management, statistical analysis, business analytics, visualization, smart city data, and learning analytics are relevant in library services today and will become increasingly so in the near future. This text serves as a tool for library and information science students and educators working on data science curriculum design.

Librarians understand the need to store, use and analyze data related to their collection, patrons and institution, and there has been consistent interest over the last 10 years to improve data management, analysis, and visualization skills within the profession. However, librarians find it difficult to move from out-of-the-box proprietary software applications to the skills necessary to perform the range of data science actions in code. This book will focus on teaching R through relevant examples and skills that librarians need in their day-to-day lives that includes visualizations but goes much further to include web scraping, working with maps, creating interactive reports, machine learning, and others. While there’s a place for theory, ethics, and statistical methods, librarians need a tool to help them acquire enough facility with R to utilize data science skills in their daily work, no matter what type of library they work at (academic, public or special). By walking through each skill and its application to library work before walking the reader through each line of code, this book will support librarians who want to apply data science in their daily work. Hands-On Data Science for Librarians is intended for librarians (and other information professionals) in any library type (public, academic or special) as well as graduate students in library and information science (LIS). Key Features: Only data science book available geared toward librarians that includes step-by-step code examples Examples include all library types (public, academic, special) Relevant datasets Accessible to non-technical professionals Focused on job skills and their applications

Practical Data Science for Information Professionals provides an accessible introduction to a potentially complex field, providing readers with an overview of data science and a framework for its application. It provides detailed examples and analysis on real data sets to explore the basics of the subject in three principle areas: clustering and social network analysis; predictions and forecasts; and text analysis and mining. As well as highlighting a wealth of user-friendly data science tools, the book also includes some example code in two of the most popular programming languages (R and Python) to demonstrate the ease with which the information professional can move beyond the graphical user interface and achieve significant analysis with just a few lines of code. After reading, readers will understand: · the growing importance of data science · the role of the information professional in data science · some of the most important tools and methods that information professionals can use. Bringing together the growing importance of data science and the increasing role of information professionals in the management and use of data, Practical Data Science for Information Professionals will provide a practical introduction to the topic specifically designed for the information community. It will appeal to librarians and information professionals all around the world, from large academic libraries to small research libraries. By focusing on the application of open source software, it aims to reduce barriers for readers to use the lessons learned within.

This book explores the rapid expansion of data sources, visualizations, and analytics created in the last decade and explores the strategies, tools, and approaches that educators and information specialists are employing to train a new generation of data professionals.

Beyond providing space for data science activities, academic libraries are often overlooked in the data science landscape that is emerging at academic research institutions. Although some academic libraries are collaborating in specific ways in a small subset of institutions, there is much untapped potential for developing partnerships. As library and information science roles continue to evolve to be more data-centric and interdisciplinary, and as research using a variety of data types continues to proliferate, it is imperative to further explore the dynamics between libraries and the data science ecosystems in which they are a part. The Handbook of Research on Academic Libraries as Partners in Data Science Ecosystems provides a global perspective on current and future trends concerning the integration of data science in libraries. It provides both a foundational base of knowledge around data science and explores numerous ways academicians can reskill their staff, engage in the research enterprise, contribute to curriculum development, and help build a stronger ecosystem where libraries are part of data science. Covering topics such as data science initiatives, digital humanities, and student engagement, this book is an indispensable resource for librarians, information professionals, academic institutions, researchers, academic libraries, and academicians.

Today, libraries must provide various web-based services, social media, and internet to patrons in order to adequately support their information needs. In addition to these services, the maintenance of online literature, databases, data sets, and archives cause librarians to have to handle huge amounts of data each day. Big data can support with quality improvement and problem solving to improve library services and can help librarians to provide up-to-date and innovative real-time services to library users. Big Data Applications for Improving Library Services is an essential scholarly publication that examines the implications and applications of big data analytics on services provided by libraries. Highlighting a wide range of topics such as data analytics, mobile technologies, and web-based services, this book is ideal for librarians, knowledge managers, data scientists, data analysts, cataloguers, academicians, IT professionals, researchers, and students.

This book will inform and inspire librarians, archivists, curators and technologists to make better use of data to help inform decision-making, the development of new services and the improvement of the user experience. With the wealth of data available to library and cultural heritage institutions, analytics are the key to understanding their users and improving the systems and services they offer. Using case studies to provide real-life examples of current developments and services, and packed full of practical advice and guidance for libraries looking to realize the value of their data, this will be an essential guide for librarians and information professionals. Library Analytics and Metrics brings together a group of internationally recognized experts to explore some of the key issues in the exploitation of data analytics and metrics in the library and cultural heritage sectors, including: The role of data in helping inform collections management and strategy Approaches to collecting, analyzing and utilizing data Using analytics to develop new services and improve the user experience Using ethnographic methodologies to better understand user behaviours The opportunities of library data as ‘big data’ The role of ‘small data’ in delivering meaningful interventions for users Practical advice on managing the risks and ethics of data analytics How analytics can help uncover new types of impact and value for institutions and organizations. Readership: This book will be an invaluable resource for librarians and library directors interested in developing a data-driven approach to their service provision and decision making; students on library and information science courses; and managers and practitioners in other cultural heritage sectors such as museums, archives and galleries.