By Miram Childs, Director, Law Library of Louisiana Supreme Court; Andre Davison, Research & Information Operations Implementation Manager, Orrick LLP and Scott Vanderlin, Student Services Librarian, University of Chicago D’Angelo Law Library
Data is everywhere. Many law librarians’ job responsibilities increasingly require them to understand and handle data. What advice, recommendations, or tips do you have to help legal information professionals improve their data skills?
ANDRE: Fifteen-plus years ago, mathematician Clive Humby made headlines when he declared that “data is the new oil.” His metaphor explained that “just like oil, in its rawest form, data is almost useless. But when it is refined, it can be turned into something much more valuable.” Firm law librarians have the unique skills and tools to refine and transform data to perform analytics to support the practice and business of law. Data can seem intimidating, but I will offer recommendations that helped me become more acclimated to using and understanding data analytics.
Read full discussion at https://firmerground.wordpress.com/2021/11/08/taking-on-data-analytics/
Also read
Law Librarians are Data Specialists
Reposted with permission from AALL Spectrum, Volume 26, Number 2 (November/December 2021), pgs 42-43.
By Diana Koppang, Director of Research & Competitive Intelligence, Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP
To continue to lead, librarians must build on their existing expertise by gaining data science fluency and proficiency with new data-driven tools.
In the 2021 AALL State of the Profession report, 52 percent of private law library respondents stated that they did not have an AI/Machine Learning Initiative and had no plans to start one. I may have been among those 52 percent (honestly, I can’t remember that far back). If so, then I too fell into the common habit of downplaying my technical expertise as a librarian. We must stop doing that.
Read full article at https://firmerground.wordpress.com/2021/11/08/law-librarians-are-data-specialists/
