Session Format: This session will be formatted as a panel followed by a round table discussion.
Session Objective/
Overview: Our session will host a panel of librarians (or those with traditional library educational backgrounds) who currently work in bio/medical data science or data support roles. As panelists, the participants will describe what their job entails, how they ended up in such positions, and how their library science skills and education have helped make them successful. They will also present a brief overview of a current project or focus area they are working on to demonstrate the different types of work available. During the question and answer section, panelists will address what steps those interested in data-focused careers can take to move in that direction. Since networking can be crucial, we will also have a brief networking time where we will encourage the audience to connect with each other (and the panelists) to help build professional connections in the librarian and data support realm.
Methods: Panelists will describe their experiences as data support professionals and how their library skills/training helped them be successful. projects they are working on to provide examples of real-life work within data science and data support, and their transition from “traditional” library roles or traditional basis of education into data services positions - including: how did they gain confidence in these roles? How did they “sell” their skill set to get the role? etc. Panelists will then engage in a question and answer session with a moderator and the audience to explore the idea of librarians in data-focused positions and what role we can play in furthering bio/medical clinical and research work.
Participant Engagement: Participants will take part in a question and answer session as well as a mini networking session to help build connections to other data support and data focused library professionals.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the session, participants will be able to describe how traditional library skills can be leveraged for data science and data support roles
By the end of the session, participants will be able to characterize and outline what steps to take to position themselves more favorably to move into data-focused roles
By the end of the session, participants will have identified 2-3 contacts who are also interested in data science & data services
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