This case study focuses on software development in collaboration with Indigenous communities in the U.S. and Australia, outlining the experience of Mukurtu system designers. Mukurtu is a digital content management system (CMS) originally developed in collaboration with Warumungu Aboriginal community members and built upon Warumungu knowledge systems.
This study path introduces learners to reflect on the act of curation, and builds on the example of Mukurtu to guide students through the critical decision-making behind selection and description of cultural objects.
This case study provides a concrete example of the gaps that can occur in standard cataloging practices and their impact on information seeking. It explores an instance of using Linked Open Data (LOD) technologies to address representation gaps, uncovering both opportunities and risks when such interlinking relies on standard vocabularies, which typically represent only mainstream narratives.
The Archives, originally called the West Coast Lesbian Collections, was founded in Oakland California, in 1981. Six years later it was moved to Los Angeles by Connexxus Women’s Center/Centro de Mujeres. The Archives acquired its present name after the death of June Mazer, in honor of her work as a community activist and invaluable supporter of the Archives.
The June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives remains the only archive on this side of the continent that is dedicated exclusively to preserving lesbian history and to guaranteeing that those who come after us will not have to believe that they “walk alone.” The Archives is committed to gathering and preserving materials by and about lesbians and feminists of all classes, ethnicities, races and experiences. Included are personal letters and scrapbooks, artwork, manuscripts, books, records, newspapers, magazines, photographs, videotapes, flyers, papers of lesbian and feminist organizations, private papers, and even clothing, such as softball uniforms from the 1940s and 50s.
Hundreds of lesbians and feminists have been inspired to donate artifacts of their personal and collective histories. The Archives encourages all lesbians to deposit the everyday mementos of your lives so that others can discover them in the future. The privacy of any donor is protected to whatever extent she desires.
In 1989, the archives earned 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and received donated space from the city of West Hollywood, where it remains today. The mission of the Mazer Archives is to collect, preserve and make accessible lesbian, feminist and women’s queer history as a means of providing a link among all generations of lesbians; to develop social activities, educational events, opportunities and programs that promote historical awareness; and to provide research and resource facilities.
The all-volunteer staff of the Mazer Archives not only keeps the doors open, but also helps to make lesbian communities and others aware of our history through speaking engagements, the Archives’ newsletter, In The Life, (no longer in publication), and special programs and exhibits.
The Creative Reaction Lab is a community and equity focused project in St. Louis, Missouri, that develops training materials to work collaboratively with communiy members to design “healthy and racially equitable communities.” The Lab has created an Equity-Centered Community Design Field Guide as well as a Community Design Apprenticeship program, among other resources, to support this work.
This Digital Library Federation Cultural Assessment Working Group works to develop tools for the measurement and analysis of cultural biases and assumptions in GLAM (Galleries, Archives, and Museums) institutions. Other projects include a workflow for inclusive curation and metadata practices, and the maintenance of an ongoing annotated bibliography of sources.
This study path will introduce learners to the concept of decolonizing museum practices by exploring the complex relationships between Indigenous people and museums.
This study path explores how various description and access systems provide opportunities for the viewer to engage with the emotional and affective dimensions of digitized cultural objects.
This study path guides learners in critically examining their institution’s current collections inventory and collection policy for gaps in what is and has been collected and learn about what these gaps show about the potential biases built into the collections at the institution and how to mitigate these gaps going forward.
Noble writes evocatively about the effect of search algorithm biases on users — in this case, young black girls who will find that Google searches for “black girls” do not lead to books about black girls or communities in which young black girls might connect, but instead pornography as the top results. Noble investigates how search engines can actually maintain unequal access and representation, yet are such a foundational aspect of modern life that they are often unquestioned. She also notes that commercial interests often subvert subvert a diverse or at least realistic range of representations.
