Decolonizing archival description: Can linked data help?

Douglas, Jennifer; Bak, Greg; McLellan, Evelyn; Hooland, Seth van; Frogner, Raymond

doi:10.1002/pra2.2018.14505501077

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Therefore, no matter whether an URI is designated with subject, predicate or object, all URIs are given clear semantic meanings. All relationships between entities expressed by predicates can be regarded explicitly as “semantic links” (Ali and Warraich, 2018; Alvite-Díez, 2021; Douglas et al ., 2018; Gonzales, 2014; Hawkins, 2021; Klic et al ., 2018; Niu, 2016; Oomen et al ., 2012; Styles et al ., 2008) and can be discoverable (Ali and Warraich, 2018; Niu, 2016). In addition to SPARQL query, all meaningful relationships can be used to facilitate semantic guidance, navigation and limitation during users’ querying and browsing LD traversing over disparate sources.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

An investigation of linked data catalogue features in libraries, archives, and museums: a checklist approach

Chen

2023

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Purpose In this study, the distinctive functional features of linked data (LD) catalogues were investigated to contrast with existing online public access catalogues (OPACs) and discovery systems using a checklist approach. The checklist was derived from a literature review and is composed of 10 items as follows: self-descriptive and dynamic content for resource description, linkage to external LD sources and online services, aggregation of knowledge contexts into knowledge graphs (KGs), URI-based link discovery, representation and query of LD relationships, URI-based serendipitous discovery, keyword recommendation, faceted limitation and browsing, visualization and openness of data. Design/methodology/approach Ten functional features derived from the literature were checked against existing LD catalogues offered by libraries, archives and museums (LAMs). The LD catalogues were regarded as qualified subjects if they offered functional features that were distinct from current OPACs and discovery systems through URI-based enrichment and aggregation from various LD sources. In addition to individual organizations, LD union catalogues were also included. However, LD hubs, such as ISNI, OCLC WorldCat Entities, VIAF and Wikidata, were excluded. In total, six LD catalogues from LAMs were selected as subjects for examination. Findings First, LD catalogues provide similar KG information through URI combination, and KGs also facilitate information serendipity, including social-document, intellectual, conceptual, spatial and temporal contexts and networks of corporate bodies, persons and families (CPFs). Second, LD catalogues have transformed the “seek first and browse later” paradigm into a “seek or browse” paradigm by refreshing the browsing function of traditional card catalogues with preview and new options to facilitate LD identification and discovery. Third, LD catalogues have refined keyword recommendation with the addition of the following fields: person’s title, CPF relationships, entity type and LD source. Lastly, a virtual union LD catalogue is offered. Research limitations/implications The proposed checklist revealed the unique/improved functional features of LD catalogues, allowing further investigation and comparison. More cases from the fields of medicine, engineering science and so on will be required to make revisions to fine-tune the proposed checklist approach. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to propose a checklist of functional features for LD catalogues and examine what the results and features of LD catalogues have achieved and are supported by from ontologies across LAMs. The findings suggest that LD provides a viable alternative to catalogues. The proposed checklist and results pave the way for the future development of LD catalogues and next-generation catalogues and also provide a basis for the future study of LD catalogues from other fields to refine the proposed checklist.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

An investigation of linked data catalogue features in libraries, archives, and museums: a checklist approach

Chen

2023

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“…147 A growing body of research is considering how linked data can decolonize archival descriptions by establishing a more complex understanding of archival provenance. 148 Rethinking provenance of collections with recognition research needs in mind will prepare staff to better assist Indigenous researcher reference requests. The International Council of Archives' developed Records in Contexts (RiC), a conceptual model to actualize linked data by identifying multiple provenances such as the agents that created, used, or documented records.…”

Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archives, Decolonization, and the Politics of Tribal Sovereignty: An Examination of Accessibility Barriers to Indigenous Federal Recognition Research in the United States

Reijerkerk,

Reed

2023

The American Archivist

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While decolonizing accessibility and access to research materials in archives is emerging as an emphasis of scholarship, it is unclear to what extent existing decolonial frameworks operationalize Indigenous sovereignty. The primary goals of tribes and Indigenous communities revolve around sovereignty and self-determination. In the United States, decolonial approaches to archives often prioritize accessibility of collections, rather than contemplating if the accessible changes have tangible positive impacts on Indigenous user needs. In this research, the authors examine whether the intentions underlying decolonial archival work articulated in the literature contribute to a nexus of inaccessibility for Indigenous researchers seeking to assert sovereignty and/or federal acknowledgement. Federal acknowledgment is a socio-anthropological political procedure for recognition as a sovereign nation and a method for tribes to gain access to federal services. This process entangles archives in ongoing settler colonial practices antithetical to professional decolonial ethos. Through an overview of the recognition process, this research centers the politics of sovereignty as a framework to uncover the confluence of colonial logics within accessibility and archival research services. Recognition research elucidates areas of decolonial thinking that continue to remake settler colonial structures rather than enhancing accessibility for Indigenous communities of all statuses.

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“…Archival descriptions can be fraught with bias, sanitization, or missing context and, in some cases, descriptions may be in need of recontextualization. For example, Douglas et al (2018) propose linked data as a way for archives to begin working on recontextualizing descriptions as part of work towards decolonisation. Although they do not name Wikidata, their proposal is preceded by metadata decolonisation work put into practice in Wikidata by Indigenous communities and libraries (Allison-Cassin and Scott 2018).…”

Section: Linked Data and Future Opportunities For Metadata Mediationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge Lost, Knowledge Gained

Ansovini¹,

Babcock

Franco

et al. 2022

KULA

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Migrating archival description from paper-based finding aids to structured online data reconfigures the dynamics of archival representation and interactions. This paper considers the knowledge implications of transferring traditional finding aids to Discover Archives, a university-wide implementation of Access to Memory (AtoM) at the University of Toronto. The migration and translation of varied descriptive practices to conform to a single system that is accessible to anyone, anywhere, effectively shifts both where and how users interface with archives and their material. This paper reflects on how different sets of knowledge are reorganized in these shifts. Discover Archives empowers researchers to do independent searches using the full breadth of their domain expertise, seemingly unbound from archival gatekeeping. At the same time, these searches are performed in the absence of archivists' unstructured mediation, where searches benefit from human interaction and the kinds of knowledges that reference staff draw on to handle complex reference questions, especially those from novice archival users. We explore the extent to which that lost knowledge can be drawn back into archival interactions via rich metadata that documents contexts and relationships embedded within Discover Archives and beyond. Internal user experience design (UXD) research on Discover Archives highlights a gap between current online description and habitual user expectations in web search and discovery. To help bridge this gap, we contributed to broader discovery nodes such as linked open "context hubs" like Wikipedia and Wikidata, which can supplement hierarchical description with linked metadata and visualization capabilities. These can reintroduce rhizomatic and serendipitous connections, enabled by archivist, researcher, and larger sets of community knowledges, to the benefit of both the user and the archivist.

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Decolonizing archival description: Can linked data help?

Cited by 4 publications

References 15 publications

An investigation of linked data catalogue features in libraries, archives, and museums: a checklist approach

An investigation of linked data catalogue features in libraries, archives, and museums: a checklist approach

Archives, Decolonization, and the Politics of Tribal Sovereignty: An Examination of Accessibility Barriers to Indigenous Federal Recognition Research in the United States

Knowledge Lost, Knowledge Gained

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