Reflections on Big Data in Healthcare: Exploring Emerging Roles

Written by: Niala Dwarika-Bhagat, The Medical Sciences Library, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago Introduction: What is Big Data? Technopedia defines Big Data as a process “that is used when traditional data mining and handling techniques cannot uncover the insights and meaning of the underlying data. Data that is unstructured or time sensitive or simply very large cannot be processed by relational database engines.” (Technopedia., 2018) Over time, the different iterations of Big Data processing and application have been used to reflect, interpret and influence developmental change. The sanctity of this tacit operation has remained largely undisturbed, until the advent of social media. Layers of issues involving social media apps, now suggest that Big Data, in addition to its merits, can be manipulated to alter perception and reality. Notwithstanding the notoriety of current headlines, what is clear is that the Big Data is now a commonplace topic of conversation. Do you think health sciences librarians should get involved with Big Data in healthcare?  The health sciences librarian working with Big Data in the academic environment is potentially in a “safer” place away from the glare of mainstream media. And although the librarian has been traditionally and typically constrained by a much larger mandate to provide services and resources for curriculum support, this is set to change with data science featured on university curri...
Source: MCR News - Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Tags: Data Science Health Sciences Source Type: news