Inspec is one of the most definitive databases for subject-specific and interdisciplinary research in the fields of engineering, physics and computer science, and contains more than 20 million records of research literature.
Danae’s role sits within the IET’s Knowledge Services and Solutions (KS&S) directorate, and as part of the team responsible for physics-related content, she uses her masters in physics to ensure appropriate query handling, selection and indexing, as well as reviewing the quality of indexing of the research papers the IET receives from a number of publishers.
“One of the best things about working at the IET is the people on my team. They are not only lovely people, but really, really interesting!”
“We also work really closely with various offshore organisations to ensure production standards are maintained and provide them with training and feedback.
In addition, we’re involved in improving tools such as the Inspec thesaurus, classification codes, taxonomy and indexing scheme, scope notes and training guides for new starters in each area,” she says.
A day in the life of an information scientist
Danae usually starts each day by selecting which papers are acceptable for the database before moving on to QA review. This involves checking papers to ensure they have the right classification codes and controlled terms and that everything necessary has been picked out in the free indexing.
“My specific subjects are condensed matter, materials science, polymers and atomic and molecular physics, but I’m also training to do more in the area of optics,” she says.
“I have a target of around 20 items to review each day, and if I complete this, I’ll then move onto doing some indexing, which means going through papers to pick out these key things myself.”
Each week Danae’s team also meets to discuss possible new terms for the thesaurus, and debate which key terms should be added. These become controlled terms and classification codes that are used to describe a paper’s key theme.
The best things about the job
One of the things Danae enjoys most about working at the IET is her colleagues, but also that the job is both educational and fun.
“The people on my team are really lovely and such interesting people to talk to! It’s such a great job, we get to talk about physics and read brand new research every single day,” she enthuses.
“If one of us gets a really interesting paper we’ll stop and discuss the topics for a little while. For example, I recently I had this really cool paper on optical storage that I had to share with them.
“It’s like I get to be an eternal student, reading about new and interesting things – something I like to do in my free time anyway,” she laughs.
Helping to encourage fellow women engineers
As a STEM professional working at the IET, Danae feels that she’s playing her part to encourage other women engineers, and in two different ways.
Firstly, as part of her work she’s often processing research papers from women authors and believes that products like Inspec, and seeing other female engineers and physicists publish papers, encourages more women to put ‘pen to paper’.
“The IET works tirelessly to encourage more women into engineering and to also support them throughout their career. This begins at a young age through programmes developed and run by our Education department.
However, Inspec focuses on encouraging women professionals at a later stage of their engineering or tech journey by giving them the opportunity to have their research paper peer reviewed and indexed in one of the industry’s most renowned databases.
“As shown by myself, this work may also be undertaken by a fellow female engineer or physicist, and representation is important,” she notes, segueing into the second way she feels her work encourages women engineers.
“Perhaps someone will look at us and think if we can gain a degree in science, technology engineering and maths (STEM) and work in an engineering role, then so can they!”
