Shush-Free Zone - Where librarians get loud!

Episode 11: Nicole Buckenwolf - From Rare Books to Ontologies: A Librarian Inside Spotify

In this episode of the Shush-Free Zone, host Dawn Brushammar sits down with Nicole Buckenwolf, Senior Staff Ontologist at Spotify, to unpack the invisible knowledge systems shaping how millions of people discover music and audiobooks every day. Nicole’s journey is anything but linear. From growing up in rural Ohio and falling in love with a single encyclopedia volume, to studying medieval history, working in rare book preservation, and eventually finding the way into taxonomy and ontology, Nicole's story is a perfect example of how librarian skill sets show up in the most unexpected places. We explore what it actually means to be an ontologist at Spotify (spoiler: it’s deeply librarian work), how you structure something as subjective and emotional as music, and why ambiguity—yes, even the dreaded “Other” category—is where the real magic happens. We also get into the realities of building knowledge systems at massive scale, the tension between speed and thoughtful knowledge work in the age of AI, and why librarians might finally be having their moment… even if the hard parts of the work haven’t changed. If you’ve ever wondered how your Spotify Wrapped comes together, or how machines make sense of something as human as music, this episode is for you. About Nicole: Nicole Buckenwolf | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-buckenwolf/] Nicole Buckenwolf is a Senior Staff Ontologist at Spotify, where she works on a small central team responsible for ontology/taxonomy and domain modeling across the company's media catalog. The team serves as an expert resource for groups across the organization, helping teams improve interoperability, align their models to best practices, and extend them to new use cases.  Specializing in knowledge representation for subjective and emotionally resonant domains, she builds the frameworks that make concepts like genre, mood, and format structured enough for production systems without losing the human meaning that makes them useful. Her interdisciplinary background spans music, history, linguistics, and the non-profit sector, informing an approach attentive to cultural context and inclusive practice. At Spotify, her work has included building the audiobooks genre classification system and leading genre alignment across teams and platforms. She is drawn to the gaps between how humans experience content and how systems are asked to represent it.

Episode 10: Heather Johnson - Information to Impact: Saving Lives in Public Health

In this episode of Shush Free Zone, host Dawn Brushammar sits down with Heather Johnson - a public health professional working at the intersection of evidence synthesis, health communication, and implementation science. Heather’s career is a powerful example of what this podcast is all about: taking core library and information science skills such as organizing knowledge, evaluating evidence, translating complexity and applying them in ways that go far beyond traditional roles. From systematic reviews to patient education to community health programming, Heather shows how getting the right information to the right people at the right time isn’t just good practice… it’s life-changing. Heather holds both an MLIS and an MPH and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH), continuing to bridge librarianship and public health in meaningful, scalable ways. About Heather Johnson: Heather Johnson is a public health professional specializing in evidence synthesis, cancer screening initiatives, and implementation science. In her work within cancer diagnostics, she focuses on understanding what drives (or prevents) colorectal cancer screening, using systematic reviews and data-driven insights to inform real-world interventions. Heather's work also encompasses: Aydel Health - Where she is developing tailored patient education tools that improve understanding and reduce friction in healthcare. Sonoran Evidence Partners - Supporting libraries in designing and evaluating community health programs with measurable impact. Relevant Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherjohnson-publichealth/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherjohnson-publichealth/] Aydel Health: https://www.aydelhealth.com/ [https://www.aydelhealth.com/] Sonoran Evidence Partners: http [https://www.sonoranevidencepartners.com/]s://www.sonoranevidencepartners.com/ [https://www.sonoranevidencepartners.com/]

Episode 9: Angela Pashia - Empowering Library Leaders Through Coaching and Curiosity

In this episode of the Shush Free Zone, host Dawn Brushammar speaks with Angela Pashia, a leadership and career development coach, about her journey from academic librarian to coaching library professionals. They discuss the importance of curiosity in coaching, the challenges of leadership, and how librarians can translate their skills into new contexts. Angela shares insights on handling difficult conversations, the difference between coaching and advising, and the future of librarianship in a rapidly changing world. The conversation also touches on Angela's personal experiences moving to a new country and her coaching programs designed to empower library leaders. About Angela: Angela Pashia helps library leaders confidently manage change and conflict in their libraries. As an ICF-certified (ACC) leadership coach, Angela offers confidential individual coaching to navigate challenging team dynamics in a way that is aligned with your values. Angela also teaches Lead With Curiosity: Coaching skills for library leaders, adapting professional coaching skills to the complex practicalities of managing a team. Angela was an academic librarian for 12 years, focusing on teaching critical information literacy, working against structural oppression within libraries, and growing as a collaborative leader. In addition to leading a team within the library, Angela led change across campus through roles like chairing the Faculty Senate Diversity and Internationalization Committee, co-chairing the campus General Education Redesign Committee, and serving a term as President of the campus AAUP chapter. Related Links: Lead With Curiosity - https://leadwithcuriosity.org [https://leadwithcuriosity.org/]  Individual coaching - https://angelapashia.com/coaching/ [https://angelapashia.com/coaching/]  Coaching Librarian Newsletter (free!) - https://angelapashia.com/newsletter/ [https://angelapashia.com/newsletter/]

Episode 8: Matthew Noe - Comics, Patients, and the Power of Storytelling: The Fascinating World of Graphic Medicine

In this episode of The Shush-Free Zone, host Dawn Brushammar speaks with Matthew Noe, a health sciences librarian at Harvard Medical School who specializes in graphic medicine. Matthew shares his path into librarianship, how comics became central to his professional identity, and why storytelling is such a powerful tool in health education. They explore how graphic novels can deepen understanding of illness, support empathy in medical training, and create meaningful connections between clinicians, patients, and communities. Matthew also discusses building a major graphic medicine collection, fostering community through zines and book clubs, and teaching future librarians about the growing intersection of comics, health, and knowledge sharing. About Matthew: Matthew Noe is currently the Lead Collection & Knowledge Management Librarian at Harvard Medical School, an instructor for both the University of Kentucky and Library Juice Academy, and a Trustee for the Worcester Public Library. He is a former President for the American Library Association's Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table and the Treasurer for the Graphic Medicine International Collective. While continuing to take on far too many things, he tries to find time to be kind, do good, and read comics. Find him on social media at @NoetheMatt or by e-mail: matthew_noe@hms.harvard.edu Relevant Links: * Graphic Medicine at Countway: https://countway.harvard.edu/services/collections/graphic-medicine-countway [https://countway.harvard.edu/services/collections/graphic-medicine-countway] * Graphic Medicine International Collective: https://www.graphicmedicine.org/ [https://www.graphicmedicine.org/] * American Library Association, Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table: https://www.ala.org/gncrt [https://www.ala.org/gncrt] * Syllabus by Lynda Barry: https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/syllabus/ [https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/syllabus/] * Ripple Effects - an award-winning work of graphic medicine by Jordan Hart and Bruno Chiroleu, published by Fanbase Press. Matthew provided a foreword: https://fanbasepress.com/publishing/item/11960-ripple-effects/ [https://fanbasepress.com/publishing/item/11960-ripple-effects/] * Gender Queer: The Annotated Edition by Maia Kobabe - Matthew provided annotations for this upcoming special edition: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Gender-Queer-The-Annotated-Edition/Maia-Kobabe/Gender-Queer-A-Memoir/9798894880822 [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Gender-Queer-The-Annotated-Edition/Maia-Kobabe/Gender-Queer-A-Memoir/9798894880822] * Library Juice Academy, Introduction to Comics Librarianship course: https://libraryjuiceacademy.com/shop/course/337-introduction-to-comics-librarianship/ [https://libraryjuiceacademy.com/shop/course/337-introduction-to-comics-librarianship/] * More about that smoky tea, called lapsang souchong: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapsang_souchong [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapsang_souchong]

Episode 7: Jessica Talisman - From Card Catalogs to Ontologies: Building Knowledge Systems for Humans and AI

In this episode of The Shush Free Zone, host Dawn Brushammar talks with Jessica Talisman - librarian, semantic systems expert, and founder of Ontology Pipeline - about what it really takes to build knowledge systems that work for both humans and machines. Jessica shares her journey from GLAM institutions into the corporate world, where she discovered just how urgently library skills are needed to make sense of messy data, AI hype, and “semantic slop.” Together, Dawn and Jessica unpack ontologies (without the jargon headache), the Ontology Pipeline methodology, and why intentional semantic structure is the key to trustworthy, scalable AI. From childhood card catalogs to enterprise taxonomies, tag-a-thons, and the hidden power of inference, this conversation is a love letter to librarianship as a technical, strategic, and deeply human discipline, right when the world needs it most. About Jessica: As an Information Architect, Jessica applies her extensive experience and education in data architecture, taxonomy, and ontology to build information systems that enhance user experience, support business goals, and enable machine learning. Jessica has a Master of Library and Information Science with a concentration in Informatics and a MicroMasters in Design Thinking. She has over 25 years of experience in developing and implementing enterprise architecture, e-commerce content structures, knowledge management systems, digital libraries, taxonomies, ontologies, and knowledge graphs for various domains and purposes. Jessica is founder of the Ontology Pipeline, a framework for building semantic knowledge infrastructures and Contextually, which offers collaborative consulting and coaching, focused on helping people master the ways of semantic systems.  Links: Jessica Talisman | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmtalisman/] Ontology Pipeline [https://www.ontologypipeline.com/] Intentional Arrangement | Jessica Talisman | Substack [https://jessicatalisman.substack.com/]