Librarian interviews and data analysis helping inform ODL project at WSDOT
This summer, I’ve been working with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) on the initial stages of a business analysis of the department’s Data or Term Search (DOTS) tool.
DOTS is a data catalog — an inventory of physical data objects and related metadata — linked to a taxonomy of important business terminology. As I wrote in my initial blog post for this project, the tool serves its technical, data-expert audience well, as it promotes data and metadata consistency across the business. DOTS falls short, however, with those at WSDOT who aren’t data experts, as it does not always provide clear business context or a clear pathway to learn more about the content represented by that data.
The business analysis of DOTS focuses on those limitations. To better inform this analysis, we have taken a step back from DOTS to consider the organization’s information and data needs and where the tool fits into a solution to those needs. In addition to my own research and ongoing discussion with project stakeholders, I am using a two-pronged approach:
- In-person interviews with 6 WSDOT librarians: In addition to being information experts, the librarians are a great entry point to learn about the information needs and information-seeking behavior of patrons within WSDOT and from the public. I have completed 4 of the 6 interviews thus far, and they have provided valuable insight into the librarians’ work, the needs of their patrons, and knowledge gaps within WSDOT.
- Data analysis of DOTS search logs and library patron help tickets: I’m using the statistical programming language R to investigate these rich data sources. This investigation not only shines light on tool usage trends and information needs, it helps the project build a robust list of potential stakeholders within WSDOT for targeted business analysis surveys and follow-up interviews.
Important note: Though the business analysis will use WSDOT staff contact information, all other personally identifiable information (PII) and WSDOT library records will be kept confidential, in accordance with Washington State Library policies that protect patron privacy and confidentiality.
This approach will lead into the next stages of the DOTS business analysis, in which I will be developing a short survey for the group of business stakeholders. This survey will include a request for follow-up interviews; these interviews will be conducted after my portion of the project is complete.
While the business analysis is primarily internal to WSDOT, it also has open-data implications. Considerations of the needs of the diverse WSDOT user base should be extensible to design that meets open-data needs. Additionally, better understanding of the data and metadata that DOTS catalogs will help business stakeholders more effectively determine what data the organization can, and should, publish as open data.
