Since one of Dialog's major strengths is its content, we thought you'd like to meet the group that works to apply and maintain quality standards for Dialog databases. Our Content Quality Assurance or CQA team members recently sat down with us to talk about their important role at Dialog and how they add value to the databases.
Q: Can you explain what Content Quality Assurance is and what your team's mission is?
A: The Content Quality Assurance team or CQA as we are called makes sure that Dialog databases meet the quality standards for which Dialog content is known. As Product Engineers, we bring a customer focus to the design and testing of databases that has a direct impact on the customer search experience. We make sure the database design takes into account the customer's perspective — that it will work according to the customer's expectations. For example, it is our responsibility to make sure the database works well in cross-file searching and its features are functional. Our mission is to create great products and a great search experience for our customers by helping to design, support and maintain Dialog database quality.
Q: Who is on the CQA team?
A: CQA has three members but is a part of the larger Content Development group for Dialog databases. We each have a subject specialty, including Intellectual Property (Sophie Hudnut), Business and News (Deborah Praisewater) and Science and Technology (Eireann Schulenburg). We are the contacts for databases in our respective subject area, and we each work on problems of diverse scope.
With an MS in Chemistry and an MLS, Sophie has been with Dialog for 31 years and is the specialist for patent, trademark and copyright files. In her time at Dialog she has conducted customer training, written documentation, tested new Dialog features and worked on database design. Deborah is the business and news specialist and has been with Dialog for more than five years. She has a degree in meteorology and an MLS. Eireann has been with Dialog for 14 years and is the Biomed/SciTech and Pharma specialist. She has an MLS and an MA in French Literature.
What makes us qualified to create great products and a great search experience is we understand the customer point of view. Our experience includes business development, customer service, competitive intelligence, public libraries, legal and special libraries and scientific organizations. We've studied information systems and searching behavior and made it our career to improve access to information. While our backgrounds are diverse, we share a common goal to make sure existing and new databases are of excellent quality for our customers.
Q: What tasks support the mission of the CQA team?
A: We are customer advocates in the file design process. We work with the “file loading team” and with the information provider data to determine which data will be of highest value to customers, to then create useable access to that data. We also ensure consistency between files for customers' easy, efficient searching. Once design is agreed upon, we ensure the file performs to the expected design. Some of the tasks we perform regularly include
As a corporate librarian for several large technology firms over the years, I've used both Dialog and competing products to meet research requirements. This experience provides me with a customer viewpoint of our products and affords real-world insight into why and how information is sought and used.
Q: You mentioned special projects, as one of your responsibilities. Can you give us an example of a special project you've worked on?
A: While the range of projects we take on includes many, I can give you an example. In order to test the Japanese Classification for patents in DWPI and document it on the Bluesheet, I had first to understand what the classification was about and how it is supposed to be used before I could test and validate the design. Now I'm writing an explanation that will help others make use of this new feature in DWPI. When projects are too extensive, however, such as the trademark files reload of 18 files in a year, all team members jump in to take part.
Q: To wrap up, why is your team's role so important to Dialog customers? And, what makes your job at Dialog so exciting particularly after so many years with the company?
A: We add value to the database. We are exceptionally knowledgeable about Dialog. We understand how to work with Dialog tools to create effective searching experiences. We are the advocate for the customer as we design new files, enhance existing files, and respond to queries from the Knowledge Center. In fact, we are in the production process of a database throughout its life cycle. To us, that is very exciting and important work.
Our work is also very diverse, and we deal with many different groups — information providers, programmers and colleagues from different departments. Dialog content is greatly varied and each project is different. One day we might be designing a new file like The Lancet, another day we may be testing a trademark database being reloaded, or we could be writing a Bluesheet for a new file or answering a customer's question passed on by our sales representatives. We like to think we're enabling customers to search all our files easily and efficiently by providing a top quality database and helpful aids to aid in searching it.
We appreciate the CQA team's time to respond to questions we thought you might have about their work, as well. Watch for interviews with other groups at Dialog in the coming months.