Faces Behind the Data, Anna He and the Harvard Geospatial Library

In this interview, we get to know Anna He, the newest member in the Map Collection. Anna’s role is the Geospatial Data Technician for the Harvard Geospatial Library (HGL).

BELLE LIPTON: What will your role be, related to the Harvard Geospatial Library (HGL)?

ANNA HE: As a geospatial data technician for HGL, I help manage geospatial data and metadata production for the Harvard Geospatial Library, primarily on the back end. My day-to-day involves tasks like doing quality control of geospatial datasets to ensure accuracy and troubleshooting any metadata-related errors. This ensures that when Harvard community members—students and professors—want to use the data, they can download and use it smoothly without any issues.

Besides the back-end work, I enjoy collaborating with my colleagues in the Harvard Map Collection. Officially, I’m part of Harvard Library’s Metadata Management and Project Strategy team, but physically, I’m based at the Harvard Map Collection in Pusey Library. This creates interesting opportunities for cross-pollination. My work with HGL is primarily on the back end, but because I work out of the Map Collection, I get exposed to how users interact with spatial data. Classes will visit the Map Collection to look at maps, or scholars will come in for GIS research consultations. I also enjoy attending the Map Collection’s workshops for GIS outreach. Getting that exposure helps me better understand the different use cases for Harvard Geospatial Library and think through how to lower barriers to accessing geospatial data.

LIPTON: Which elements of this role or responsibilities are you most interested in and why?

HE: From a data management perspective, I’m interested in learning about making data more openly accessible and discoverable, especially through a Data Feminism lens, and finding ways to apply that to HGL. Before joining Harvard Library, my GIS experience was primarily as a user – I studied GIS in classes, used geospatial data to create maps and analyze environmental issues, and so forth. So coming from outside the library field, it’s been really enriching to join a workplace where I can learn more about, and critically think about, issues like user access and data preservation with my library colleagues.

The cross-pollination aspect is also especially exciting; I really enjoy being situated in the Harvard Map Collection because I get to understand how end users interact with spatial data. I went from making maps to georeferencing and analyzing maps made by others– I’m on the other side of the process. It’s eye-opening to see the many different perspectives and applications of geospatial data.

LIPTON: I agree with that. I find those elements of your role interesting too.

Let me ask you about working at Harvard. You’re new here and working with three different groups - the University, the Library system, and the Map Collection. Each of these has its own way of doing things. I’ve found that learning how these groups work can be both exciting and sometimes complex. You’ve been here for just over three months now - what do you find most interesting or challenging about working with these different groups? And what opportunities are you looking forward to exploring?

HE: I’m really excited about finding opportunities to collaborate and bring fresh perspectives to our projects. I think after working at any institution for a long period of time, especially one as large as Harvard, it’s important to keep innovating and not get tied to doing things the way they’ve been done just because of precedent. So I’m looking forward to being guided by a sense of curiosity and energy and potentially finding creative approaches to our work. While I’m still figuring out exactly what that looks like day-to-day through conversations with my co-workers in Maps and across the Library, I see it as both a challenge and an opportunity that comes with being part of Harvard Library.

I’m also interested in understanding how people use the Harvard Geospatial Library. One of my current projects involves analyzing Google Analytics data for HGL to understand user behavior. This analysis helps us see who’s using our resources and what kind of data they’re looking for. And that in turn can help inform our collection development strategy and user interface development. For example, while we have strong coverage of Western countries , I’m interested in finding ways to diversify our collections to better serve researchers working with data from other regions.

LIPTON: Let me build on what you’re saying. I think this interview helps highlight an important point: while users might assume the Harvard Geospatial Library collection is static, with a fixed approach to collection development, we actually want to emphasize that it’s quite dynamic. We’re actively engaged with our research community and committed to curating materials that serve their evolving needs. We’re constantly looking for ways to connect with researchers, understand their interests, and make relevant data accessible to them.

HE: Yes, and that reminds me of a recent experience. I was attending one of the workshops held by the Digital Scholarship Group where I met a researcher looking for a specific dataset from China. While I found the data in HGL, it was actually held by and restricted to another institution, making it inaccessible to Harvard researchers. This highlighted an interesting challenge we face: how can we better support researchers when we know data exists but isn’t readily accessible? I think there’s an opportunity here to improve how we bridge these access gaps.

LIPTON: Going back to what you mentioned earlier about challenging the status quo and bringing new perspectives - I really appreciate how you’re thinking about your back-end role in such an interdisciplinary way, connecting with different functions of the Map Collection. Among all these different connections and possibilities, which areas of potential innovation or challenges interest you the most?

HE: I would love to continue the collaboration between Metadata Management, the Map Collection, and Library Technology Services, building off the energy you’ve brought to the Map Collection… It’s important to keep talking to each other and finding points of connection in order for staff members to connect and collaborate.

LIPTON: Making sure our different technical systems and outreach programs can work together better.

HE: Yeah, and Harvard Library is such a vast institution – we have so many different libraries and dedicated staff members working to support them, that it would be easy to stay in your own bubble. I’m hoping to push back against that and build connections across the library system – one of my personal goals is to visit every single library at Harvard. They have a fun library passport program to track your visits. You never know how these informal connections with colleagues across departments can lead to unexpected opportunities and collaborations.

LIPTON: Any other suggestions for ways for readers to connect?

HE: I’d love to invite everyone to come visit us at the Map Collection in Pusey Library! I’m always happy to give a map tour or show visitors around. If you’re interested in GIS-related events, you can find upcoming workshops and activities by searching for “GIS” in the Harvard Library events calendar .

LIPTON: Thanks, Anna!