My name is Amara Hays, and I am a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. I am currently an MLIS student at the University of South Florida. I heard about RDAP through American Indian Library Association (AILA). I decided to apply for a scholarship to attend the virtual conference. I am grateful to have been chosen for a scholarship. I applied to attend the conference because I wanted to learn more about data librarianship. Specifically, I wanted to learn more about what data librarians do and how data librarians contribute to information science. I came into the conference with no prior knowledge of data librarianship or experience in the field.

Overall, I liked the varied content of the presentations, lightning talks, and posters. It really showcased the current research that is being conducted in the field. I felt that the conference topics and content were interesting and thought provoking. I appreciated that the presentations, lightning talks, and posters were clear and concise. I am a novice, and I found the research findings easy to comprehend. Some presenters went over their key findings more than once, which made their presentations easy to follow. I also liked that users had the opportunity to engage with the presenters in a Q & A at the end of each session. I was surprised by some of the issues that data librarians currently face. I had no idea that metadata could present so many issues. It was interesting to see the connection between my coursework and some of the topics covered in the presentations and lightning talks. I have gained a whole new appreciation for data librarianship and all that data librarians do by attending the conference.

I found the Pheedloop portal easy to access and navigate. I loved that I could attend the conference from the comfort of my home and choose which sessions I wanted to attend. I also liked the fact that there were many ways for people to interact with each other during the conference. I think this added to the whole experience and made it feel like I was attending in person. I can see myself attending another RDAP conference in the future, whether in person or online. Thank you for the wonderful experience.