-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Numeric/Spatial Data Services Librarian Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 16:36:57 -0500 From: L-Soft list server at UGA (1.8d) <[log in to unmask]> To: Angie Cope <[log in to unmask]> Hello, All-- It may be useful to look at the word "numeric" from a linguistic standpoint. In several languages, the word numeric means digital. Therefore, a Numeric Librarian is one who works with digital data. This describes a large percentage of the subscribers to this list. Perhaps simplistic, but at the same time straightforward. To paraphrase Jon, there are numerous words than can be used to describe the same thing (or librarian). Geoff Geoffrey A. Forbes, M.S. LAND INFO Worldwide Mapping LLC Tel: +1.763.428.4129 Fax: +1.303.790.9734 E-mail: [log in to unmask] Web site: www.landinfo.com -----Original Message----- From: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angie Cope, American Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 2:31 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Numeric/Spatial Data Services Librarian -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: Numeric/Spatial Data Services Librarian Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 15:27:27 -0500 From: Redmond, Edward James <[log in to unmask]> To: 'Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship' <[log in to unmask]> My head hurts. Ed -----Original Message----- From: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angie Cope, American Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 3:09 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Numeric/Spatial Data Services Librarian -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: Numeric/Spatial Data Services Librarian Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 14:35:27 -0500 From: Grabach, Kenneth A. Mr. <[log in to unmask]> To: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship <[log in to unmask]> If I might add a little, since the most recent job posting is from my institution. The surmises and discussion of the numerical data are spot on. I think geospatial data is something more or less familiar to uses of this forum. But also, GIS work involves analysis of numerical data put into geographical contexts. In addition to the boundary shape files and other layers that form a map, a geodatabase uses numerical data, sometimes in tabular form, sometimes laid out spatially, allowing for visualization not only of the mapping data, but of the data actually being analyzed (say demographic factors, or agricultural or natural vegetation, etc.) Ken Grabach <[log in to unmask]> Maps Librarian Phone: 513-529-1726 Miami University Libraries Oxford, Ohio 45056 USA -----Original Message----- From: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angie Cope, American Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 12:33 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Numeric/Spatial Data Services Librarian -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Numeric/Spatial Data Services Librarian Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 09:11:50 -0800 (GMT-08:00) From: Jon Jablonski <[log in to unmask]> To: Air Photo Maps, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship <[log in to unmask]> I think (and I remember seeing a list of 'preferred skills' somewhere) they are talking about someone to manage tabular data that is best analyzed using quantitative methods. Libraries are looking for people who know how to find and evaluate data on repositories like ICPSR (heck: some libraries are looking to START repositories like ICPSR), can walk advanced undergraduates and grad students through the process of opening and exploring those datasets using software like R, SPSS, stata, and a host of others. Physical and natural sciences have a lot of that sort of thing too, and librarians are actively working in those domains as well (digitizing herbaria, curating genomics data), but often that work happens, respectively, in museums (musea?) and government agencies rather than in academic libraries. IMHO: there is a lot of overlap between spatial and other sorts of data that people (read: administrators) are starting to see as useful to have in libraries. If you don't have a paper map collection to support a full time map librarian, having a spatial/numeric person makes a lot of sense. Add on collecting for earth and social sciences and you've got a really versatile subject specialist/data curator/bibliographer/call me whatever you want. Jon Jablonski Map & Imagery Laboratory UC Santa Barbara ----- "Angie Cope, American Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Numeric/Spatial Data Services Librarian - Miami University - > Oxford, OH > Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:25:50 -0600 > From: Angie Cope, American Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee > <[log in to unmask]> > Organization: American Geographical Society Library > To: Maps-L <[log in to unmask]> > > Anyone want to talk about the word "Numeric" used in 2 recent job > announcements? What, exactly, does that mean? All I can think of is > the alternatives - visual, textual - Or opposites being: connotative > or qualitative. > > Thoughts? > > Thanks. > > Angie