THIS IS A DRAFT. The LIBRARIAN EXPLAINER Series Part 1
When we work with Excel, we are working with data. However, many people who use Excel do not fully understand data in the larger, interconnected sense. Most of us engage with data in an isolated, local, and personal way. This is natural because we’re often dealing with our own spreadsheets. However, to truly harness the power of data in business, we need to grasp its role in connecting people, processes, and systems.
The Purpose of Data
Data is the lifeblood of business and industry. It reflects business processes, enabling decisions to be made—either by humans or automatically—based on changes in the data. When data changes, rules kick in, triggering processes. For instance, when an order is received, paid for, and ready for dispatch, the system should automatically initiate the dispatch process.
For this to happen smoothly, data needs to be in the right place at the right time. This leads us to a critical concept: data needs a home, a central place where it can reside and be accessed when needed.
The Library Analogy
Imagine data as books in a library. To fully understand the bigger picture of how data works in business, this analogy can help. Let’s think back to a time when libraries were the main source of knowledge. If you wanted a book or several books on a certain topic, you’d go to the library. You might browse the shelves or, more systematically, check the catalog to find the book’s location. If the book wasn’t available, there would often be a system to help you borrow it from another library.
After borrowing the book, you could take it home to work with it. But crucially, if others needed that same book, they wouldn’t search through people’s homes for it. They would return to the library because that’s where books are cataloged and expected to be.
The Digital Library
Now, let’s extend this analogy to our digital world. In a business context, the “library” is where data lives. Here are some key differences between a physical library and a digital one:
- Accessibility: In the digital data library, multiple people can borrow and use the same “book” (or data) simultaneously. Even if you’ve taken it out to work with, it remains available for others to access as well.
- Retention: In a physical library, you’re expected to return the book after use. In the digital realm, once you “borrow” data, it’s yours to keep for your work without the need to return it. However, the data remains available in the library for others.
- Membership and Security: Just like a library requires a membership card, accessing business data requires login credentials or access rights. Only authorized people can enter the digital “library” and borrow data.
Why We Borrow Data
So, why do we “borrow” data from the digital library? Much like borrowing a book, we take data out to analyze it, work with it, and use it to make decisions. However, unlike books, the data we work with doesn’t disappear from the system. Others can use it at the same time, ensuring that the entire organization has access to the information they need.
The library analogy helps illustrate the structured way in which data is stored and accessed. We don’t expect people to come knocking on our doors to access data, just like we don’t expect them to come to our homes for a book. Everyone knows where the data is stored, and there is a systematic way to find and use it.
Conclusion
This library system for data helps us understand the flow and purpose of data in business. The data lives permanently in a secure location, available for all authorized users to access. Just like a well-organized library allows readers to easily find and borrow books, a well-structured data system ensures that business processes run smoothly, with data flowing to where it’s needed, when it’s needed.
In the next part, we will explore the deeper mechanics of “borrowing” data: what it means, how the process works, and why it is crucial for efficient business operations.
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