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Local Big Data: The Role of Libraries in Building Community Data Infrastructures

This study explores the role of libraries in building local data infrastructures in smaller communities and neighborhoods. It examines the challenges and opportunities of utilizing big data at the local level and identifies key factors for success.

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Local Big Data: The Role of Libraries in Building Community Data Infrastructures

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  1. Local Big Data: The Role of Libraries in Building Community Data Infrastructures John Bertot, PhD, Brian Butler, PhD & Diane Travis, MLS University of Maryland, Unites States

  2. Introduction • The potential for Big Data to help address the current societal problems is significant, especially in large Smart Cities • But these solutions are not always usable on the local level • Smaller communities and neighborhoods lack the resources and capacities • And they have different needs than the big cities • But to realize this potential, we need to know what Big Data looks like on a local level

  3. The Role of Data in Local Communities • What does Big Data look like on the neighborhood or small community-level? (i.e. “Local Big Data”) • This project explored the issues of building critical data capabilities in smaller communities and neighborhoods, such as: • Data infrastructure • Organization of data and data communities • Identification of key data sources and resources • Assessing and improving data frequency and quality • Data curation • Facilitating data use • Measuring the impact of data related investments

  4. Methods • Case study methodology in a medium-sized U.S. city (Pittsburgh, PA) between August and October 2013 • Site selection was purposeful • Focused on identifying the ways Local Big Data can be leveraged in smaller communities or neighborhoods by the local governments, community organizations (private and non-profit) and other stakeholders

  5. Procedures • 44 community organizations in 6 neighborhoods in the east end of Pittsburgh were contacted and interviews were held with 14 of them • Civil society & community groups (i.e. local legislative offices, farmers’ markets, housing development) • Libraries (public and state) • Non-Profit Organizations (i.e. homeless shelters, food pantries, ministries) • Semi-structured, open-ended interviews done via the telephone • Recorded and notes of interviewers were collated • Results were analyzed and coded for emergent themes

  6. Procedures • Qualitative analysis of library websites to ascertain current local data initiatives (such as holding codefests or hackathons, or providing repository services to the community) • Held a workshop in September 2013, “All Data is Local: The Role of Libraries in Local Data Ecosystems” • Bringing together stakeholders (from community organizations, state and public libraries, researchers from the local University and the study team) to discuss and further identify issues associated with Local Big Data

  7. Findings • There are a multitude of challenges and opportunities around the issue of Local Big Data • The four themes that emerged were: • Data Needs • Building Capacity • Building Community • Fostering Innovation

  8. Data Needs Issues with both large publically-available datasets and collecting original data (collecting, curating, processing, analyzing, and maintaining currency) There is a mismatch between available Big Data and local community needs and capacities

  9. Building Capacity • Need to develop the ability to build, use, and maintain their capability to make use of local data. Specifically, enhancing their: • Data infrastructure • Data portals • Skilled people (analysts, decision makers, and liaisons) • Libraries have a pool of skilled people that act as liaisons and instructors

  10. Building Community • Building communities of practice around using Local Big Data • Workshops & hackathons • Relationship & networks • Identify critical roles and capabilities • Create a central coordinating mechanism • Libraries can play the roles of facilitator and convener as well as being a neutral centralized place for the housing and coordinating Local Big Data

  11. Fostering Imagination • Seeing the possibilities in the local context • Identification of best practices • Pilot projects to facilitate dialogs and build relationships • Seed funding for local data infrastructure projects

  12. Conclusions • The challenges of Local Big Data are real and so are the opportunities • Public libraries are in most US communities and can be used to leverage Big Data capacities and capabilities on a community level • They have structure and equipment, skilled and knowledgeable personnel, and existing community relationships • Already function in the liaison role between the government and the citizens • Additional research is necessary to explore the issues surrounding Local Big Data ecosystems

  13. Thank You

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