Announcing the DRP Metadata Analyst

Today’s post is an interview with our new Metadata Analyst! The DRP is grateful to be able to offer this position throught the generous support of the Portfolio to Protect Science, a fiscally sponsored initiative of Global Impact, as well as other anonymous individual donors.

We are so excited to have this chance to sit down with our Metadata Analyst! Can you tell us a little about yourself, and what drew you to this position?

Back in 2017, I participated in a data rescue effort through DataRefuge. I distinctly remember being at the JSTOR offices in New York City with a roomful of people rescuing the data in person. Everyone was aware how at risk the datasets were, and there was a great feeling of comradery in the room–librarians, journalists, scientists, data scientists, information activists–learning from one another to rescue the data.

As 2025 approached, it was clear this type of crisis would be happening again.

In the years between, I was hired by METRO, the Metropolitan New York Library Council. One of my main roles was to serve as Metadata Librarian for the New York State service hub to the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). We helped museums, historical societies, public libraries, small community orgs–you name it–contribute resource records from their digital collections to the nation-wide platform DPLA. The idea was to promote discovery of these organizations’ resources on one platform that linked back to the original records at these organizations. In that role, I gained more hands-on experience in aggregating metadata, learning what kind of services might be available and also how diverse collection metadata can be.

I should also briefly note my background is with linked open data, in particular building knowledge graphs for cultural heritage–I really enjoyed my time with Linked Jazz at Pratt (now Semantic Lab!), a group that I continue to work with to this day. These projects, in particular, demonstrate that good functional metadata can help surface the histories of underrepresented and marginalized communities against the vast pool of information out there. But I also cherish hands-on time with resources we are working with and describing, and I make room for that. Working with metadata, we rarely have the time to slow down and really understand what’s in front of us–but good metadata requires that.

Many years ago, I worked in a college laboratory involved in biofuel research. My role there was to manage data from our research, and the entire team was introduced to the databases of NCBI and also AlgaeBase. I was so impressed by what existed in the science world in aligning terms across time: a strain mentioned in a publication from the 19th century that used a name from a very subjective system was already aligned with more recent publications using its latin name, etc.  It just highlights for me how magical metadata is: whether you’re working with arts resources or ‘hard science’ data–you have to have good metadata to make the items discoverable. 

And this opportunity with the DRP just felt like the perfect intersection of my skills, experience, and values. I was excited to submit my application for the position.

As you know, this is a position with a lot of opportunities! What aspect of rescued data metadata are you most excited to explore in the coming months?

There are probably more opportunities than time! I’ve been spending my first weeks getting my feet under me–learning more about the collaborators we work with, how people use the data, and the platforms DRP uses. 

But, as I mentioned earlier, I am most excited about any opportunity to make these great resources easier for people to find, and use! There are a lot of ways that we enable this, and enable it for a variety of users, including through controlled vocabularies, APIs, and other technical pieces. There needs to be a balance between enabling it, while not making it too fussy–respecting all the work, labor, and people involved in building and maintaining the DRP platform, while also expanding how it can operate in the larger information landscape.

Final question: we have almost 1,000 volunteers with the DRP. What is one thing you’d like them to know?

I'm not sure I can reduce it to just one point! First, I'll start with gratitude for this community. Everyone has been so kind and welcoming as I've asked dozens of questions about our technology and metadata. And there is so much trust in this network, such a desire to improve, that no one feels criticized. That has been wonderful to be part of.

Secondly, I'm excited for the collaborative nature of this project, and how much collective wisdom supports the DRP mission. 

And lastly, I am just so humbled by how much good volunteer work is going on. In my role, I am excited to amplify this wonderful work to support it. And I look forward to working with many of you!