Projects
Below are selected projects I have undertaken over the past 5 years. Where possible, I have added links to relevant dashboards or publications.
Role: Analysis and visualization
Google sheets, Tableau
VT Library faculty teach in-class workshops for first-year writing class sections (ENGL 1105/1106) as part of the University Libraries' Foundational Instruction Program.
In order to asses the learning outcomes from these in-class workshops, the Foundational Instruction Team conducted a study to investigate what students are learning in the library classroom, and how they align with established learning outcomes.
Strategic Plan TDM
Role: Text mining and topic extraction
Python
As part of the Library Strategic Planning Review Taskforce, this project involved using text mining and topic extraction to survey existing library strategic plans across the US and Canada in order to identify areas of commonality and identify trends.
Role: Data transformation, analysis, and visualization
Google sheets, Tableau
Create longitudinal analysis and dashboard of data reported to ARL benchmarking the University Libraries at Virginia Tech's peer institutions, including ARL, SUG, and SCHEV peers along with regional and land grant institution comparisons.
This is a comprehensive analysis covering 5 years and cross-referenced by number of enrolled students, number of library personnel, number of instructional faculty etc, where applicable. Comparison criteria included total budget expenditures, materials budget expenditures, salary and wage expenditures, collection size, collection use, building use, and various services provided, including instruction and consultations.
Collection Analysis: Elsevier Freedom Collection
Role: Data transformation, forecasting, analysis, and visualization
Tableau, CAT, Excel, Unsub, Scopus, Web of Science
Evaluate Elsevier Freedom Collection subscriptions in terms of Virginia Tech historical and present cost, cost per use, average percent increase per year and bundle discount versus list price. Other factors in the evaluation include forecasting ILL transaction costs and frequency, backfile available as perpetual access, and citation and authorship information.
This is one aspect of a larger effort with consortial partners to evaluate whether to continue the “big deal” package with Elsevier in light of unsustainable price increases and concerns about open access.
Role: Data extraction, data transformation, analysis, and visualization
Graylog, Python, Excel, Tableau
This project involved the collection of data about how Virginia Tech licensed content is utilized by the Virginia Tech student body. The purpose of this program was twofold. The first is to discover whether information about off-campus use can allow reasonable assumptions to be made about on-campus use by comparing study demographics to enrollment demographics. The second purpose was to learn about off-campus student users. This project used data collected during a full 5-week academic course of Summer II classes.
Role: Data collection, data extraction, data transformation, and analysis.
Python
This project involved working with two years of library chat and simple natural langauage processing techniques to explore user behavior and learn about popular topics. I performed sentiment analysis of library webchat transcripts, topic extraction, creation of a library-centered dictionary, and mapping to the Reference Effort Assessment Data (READ) scale to determine whether the actual difficulty of reference questions matched the perceived difficulty of the question.
Role: Data collection, data transformation, analysis, and visualization
R. Tableau, Excel
This project collected data on Rockhurst University student locations and activities during finals week. I was in charge of this project from designing the intake form, determining collection methods, and collecting data. To assess the data, I performed a market basket analysis using R to describe groups, and visualized data using Tableau.
Note: the link goes a visualization and not the final written analysis.