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Amy Affelt

Born: 1970 in LaSalle, Illinois
Pen Name: None

Connection to Illinois: Affelt was born and raised in LaSalle, Illinois, and moved to Chicago, where she now reside, in 1988.

Biography: Amy Affelt grew up in LaSalle, Illinois, a rural town of 10,000 people. Some of her most cherished childhood memories are of walking to LaSalle’s Carnegie Public Library with her mother. She loved to stand at the desk with a stack of books she had selected, waiting for them to be stamped by the librarian.Affelt traveled to the “big city” of Chicago to attend the University of Illinois, where, in just three short years, she earned a bachelor’s degree in history and was named to Phi Beta Kappa. Perusing the help wanted ads, she felt a sense of urgency to have a job title to look for, and Librarian seemed like a good fit with her research skills, so she went on to earn a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from what is now Dominican University. She has spent her entire professional career in economic consulting, working with PhD economists who testify as experts in litigation. She conducts research and analysis to reinforce the points they need to make. She also manages a group of other librarians who do the same.Affelt is a well-known author and conference presenter on top- ics such as adding value to information, evaluating information integrity and quality, and marketing of information services. She is also very active in the Special Libraries Association (SLA), having served as the chair of its Future Ready Toolkit initiative and as chair of the Leadership and Management Division. In 2015, she was named a Fellow of the Association.When she is not reading and studying about Big Data, Affelt enjoys running, cycling, yoga, sailing, ballet, skiing, and cooking, as well as foreign and independent film. Never one to let too much grass grow under her feet, she indulges her passion for travel at every opportunity.


Awards:

Primary Literary Genre(s): Non-Fiction

Primary Audience(s): Adult readers

Email: aaffelt@compasslexecon.com
Amy Affelt on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=amy+affelt


Selected Titles

The accidental data scientist :
ISBN: 1573875112 OCLC: 905559379

Amy Affelt, author of The Accidental Data Scientist, notes that "Librarians and information professionals have always worked with data in order to meet the information needs of their constituents, thus 'Big Data' is not a new concept for them." With The Accidental Data Scientist, Amy Affelt shows information professionals how to leverage their skills and training to master emerging tools, techniques, and vocabulary; create mission-critical Big Data research deliverables; and discover rewarding new career opportunities by embracing their inner Data Scientist.

 

 

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