What's the Big Deal with Big Data?
Channel: SJSU School of Information
Date: 2013-09-27

Podcast Links:
http://amazon.sjsu.edu/slisPod/colloquia/fa13/collAffeltFA13.mp3
http://amazon.sjsu.edu/slisPod/colloquia/fa13/collAffeltFA13.mp4

Abstract:
Big Data has replaced "information overload" as the catch phrase of the moment, and the accompanying commentary is often presented in a way that creates concern and uncertainty among professionals working in myriad industries. Luckily, Big Data presents a huge opportunity for librarians to latch on to the buzz surrounding this phenomena to market their skills and go beyond current service levels to first curate high-quality data, and then parse through, analyze, and massage it to create knowledge products that are tremendously valuable to our organizations. This session explores Big Data opportunities across industries as varied as healthcare, transportation, and entertainment, and showcases deliverables that information professionals can create, in order to position themselves as solutions, antidotes, and experts in harnessing Big Data to drive critical organization decision-making.

Opening remarks: Deb Hunt, current SLA President
Co-sponsor: SLIS SLA Student Group

Biography:
Amy Affelt is director, Database Research, at Compass Lexecon, a global economic consultancy, where she finds, analyzes, and transforms information and data into knowledge deliverables for PhD economists who testify as experts in litigation. She is also an author and conference speaker on topics such as adding value to information, evaluating information integrity and quality, and marketing information services. She has a BA in History, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science from Dominican University.