Scientific knowledge is expanding both in terms of peer-reviewed articles published and in the types and formats of relevant information. Peer-reviewed scientific research in more and more specialized fields, clinical trials data, conference proceedings and posters, business news and regulatory filings, patents, government datasets, and internal research and data all contain information valuable to researchers. However, much of this information is either unstructured or in data streams that do not permit easy interoperability.
Information managers bring a unique set of skills to the organization with their understanding of what information sources and tools are available, how information flows within the organization, and how various user groups acquire, use and store information. As machine learning and text and data mining projects are getting launched within organizations, information managers have an opportunity to serve in consultative roles within their organizations to encourage the use of better data and workflow processes. One of the areas in which they can make the most contribution is in introducing user groups to the impact of semantic enrichment of internal and external content and the importance of data cleansing.
Their users may not realize the expertise information managers could bring to an AI project. Information professionals must watch for opportunities to explore data analysis needs and concerns, and to look at meeting the user’s information needs in a more strategic way that supports deeper analysis and insight. Since users will not ask an information center for a service if they do not think the information center could do the work, information managers must bring up questions of data consistency, discoverability and interoperability whenever they discussing users’ research projects.
Mary Ellen Bates explored these concepts in this exclusive white paper. She discussed the importance of making information FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) using semantic enrichment, and how information managers can find strategic roles to play in their organization’s AI and data analysis projects.
You can access the white paper recording here.Â
Mary Ellen Bates is the principal of Bates Information Services Inc., providing business insights to strategic decisionmakers and consulting services to the information industry. Mary Ellen worked for over a decade in corporate and government information centers before launching her business in 1991. She received her MLIS from the University of California Berkeley and is based near Boulder, Colorado.
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