Subtitle: What metrics based on publication and citation data can and can't tell us. Following on from DORA (2013), the idea of responsible metrics has developed a clear voice in publications such as the Leiden Manifesto (2015) and the Metric Tide (2015). This breakout session described how library staff at Lancaster University became involved in a seminar series entitled ‘Designing the academic self’ (2016), and contributed insights into what metrics based on publication and citation data can and can’t tell us. Participants took part in the discussion-based activities that were used to illustrate the uses and limitations of quantitative indicators in the original seminar. Presented as a breakout session at Bibliometrics in Practice event, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK on 27th June 2016. Organised by LIS-Bibliometrics Committee.