Data Ethics in Cultural Heritage Institutions

Course Overview:

This course is primarily based on contemporary work in the area of collections as data, open data in cultural heritage institutions, digital humanities, and related fields interested in the computational use of archival material. We start by grounding ourselves in the ideas of data, big data, and concerns about big data’s effect on our lives. We then focus on cultural heritage institutions and how they are part of this landscape. We focus specifically on digitization selection and metadata remediation as a lens into ethical questions of using and reusing archival material in different settings and for different projects. This course is based primarily on my work with the #LDLasData project with the Louisiana Digital Library.

Statement of Respect and Appreciation:

In this course we will be reading, watching, and engaging with library practitioners, scholars, and others who have made their work freely available to us. We will approach these works with a spirit of respect and appreciation. This is a developing field of study, with rapidly changing terminology and expectations. We aim to (1) Respect the effort that others put into their work; (a) accept critique graciously and offer it constructively; (3) give credit where it is due; and (4) assuming the best intentions from other parties

Course Outline:  

The following course outline is for an accelerated session of five weeks. Longer semesters vary in flow and number of topics.