Description of Topics

Topic

Design for Diversity materials are also organized into eight different cross-cutting topics which were revised through iterative processes with different groups within the D4D community. We are always happy for feedback on topics that are left out or insufficiently covered. The eight topics are:

Algorithmic Bias

This topic centers around how social biases are reaffirmed with algorithms. Some of these issues include automated data processing, algorithms and algorithmic bias including information retrieval and processing, text processing algorithms, ethics and social/political factors surrounding these processes.

Collecting Materials

This topic centers around the selection of cultural heritage materials. Some of these issues include the shaping and building of collections, process of gathering from “outside” the organization, or from members within the organization.

Curation and Remix

This topic centers around how social biases are woven into the presentation and representation of cultural heritage materials. Some of these issues include curatorial behaviors, responsible digitization and transcription, contextualization and exhibition design, practices of remixing, reuse and narrativization, repatriation and relationships with originating cultures.

Intellectual and Cultural Property

This topic centers around ownership and the distribution of cultural heritage artifacts. Some of these issues include the ethics of sharing and open access, control of knowledge and decision-making about access and usage, repatriation and relationships with originating cultures, post-custodial approaches.

Metadata and Nomenclature

This topic centers around the vocabularies and organization chosen to represent cultural heritage items. Some of these issues include controlled vocabularies and terminology, participatory description and naming conventions

Process and Partnerships

This topic centers around the process in working with communities and cultures, particularly those who are historically and continuously disenfranchised. Some of these issues include partnering, establishing and sustaining relationships with community originators and users; processes for making change including participatory design and description; and implementing decolonizing and anti-white supremacy frameworks.

Technical Design

This topic centers around the social biases embedded in systems and tools that are designed to house, represent, and present cultural heritage materials. Some of these issues include system design and development, data management systems, software code.

User Experience

This topic centers around how users interact with these systems, tools, exhibitions, cultural heritage materials, and more. Some of these issues include user interaction design; the ways interfaces organize and hail knowledge and identity; and the role of transparency in making underlying design choices clear. We are particularly interested in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and the Feminist HCI practices.

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