This post is part of our Curators’ Corner series. Every so often we’ll feature a different DCN Curator. The series grew out of a community-building activity wherein curators at our partner organizations interview each other “chain-letter style” in order to get to know each other and their work outside of the DCN better. We hope you enjoy these posts!
Susan Borda is the Data Workflow Specialist at
the University of Michigan Library. She was interviewed by Dave Fearon in January, 2020.
How did you come to your current position – when did you start and where were you before this?
June 2017. Montana State University. I had jobs in Higher Ed and corporate IT for several years before library school. This is the third job after Library School.
What do you do?
I help researchers get their data from wherever it is and transfer it to wherever it needs to be so that can be properly managed, whether that is our repository or another one. I work mainly with data that is done and needs to be shared. I also work on special projects.
How much of your job involves data curation?
I curate and reorganize the big beefy datasets when I move them, but that’s not the main crux of my job.
Why is data curation important to you?
It is important generally speaking as far as you don’t want to be putting out datasets that no one can understand or that people can’t find.
Do you get to help with that in your job?
Part of the process is reorganizing what they sent us so that we can get it into our system.
Why is the Data Curation Network important?
Chiefly because of trying to standardize the process. And the knowledge sharing. I guess we are still sorting out the standardizing. Once we can get some processing and modes standardized within our group at the DCN it will be easier to map it out to the community because there is enough variability within the DCN.
If you weren’t doing data curation, what would you be doing?
I would probably be working in IT infrastructure somewhere. It’s not sexy but it’s necessary.
To learn more about Susan and some of the datasets she’s curated for the DCN see her curator page!