Digital Objects & Obsolescence

What are the historic legacies and politics of representing culture as data?

In-Class Agenda

• Discuss the assigned readings. Slides available here.
• Groups present on Mass Digitization & Digital Libraries Group Assignment.

Assigned Materials

Read:

• Johnson, Jessica Marie. “Markup Bodies: Black [Life] Studies and Slavery [Death] Studies at the Digital Crossroads.” Social Text 36, no. 4 (137) (December 1, 2018): 57–79. https://doi.org/10.1215/01642472-7145658 (also available on Canvas)

Another dataset to explore:

• Keyes, Melanie Walsh and Os. “U.S. National Park Visit Data (1979-2023) – Responsible Datasets in Context,” June 1, 2024. https://www.responsible-datasets-in-context.com/posts/np-data/?tab=data-essay.

Additional Materials & Links

• Rankin, Bill, and Matt Daniels. “Mapping Slavery Against US Incarceration.” The Pudding, January 2017. https://pudding.cool/2017/01/shape-of-slavery/
• Bouk, Dan. “The History and Political Economy of Personal Data over the Last Two Centuries in Three Acts.” Osiris 32, no. 1 (September 2017): 85–106. https://doi.org/10.1086/693400.
• David Eltis, ‘A Brief Overview of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade,’ Slave Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, https://www.slavevoyages.org/voyage/about.
• Onuoha, Mimi. “The Library of Missing Datasets - MIMI ONUOHA.” MIMI ONUOHA. Accessed January 11, 2024. https://mimionuoha.com/the-library-of-missing-datasets.
• Onuoha, Mimi. “MimiOnuoha/Missing-Datasets,” January 9, 2024. https://github.com/MimiOnuoha/missing-datasets.
• The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database https://www.slavevoyages.org/.
• Freedom on the Move https://freedomonthemove.org/.
• Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade https://enslaved.org/