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Articulating a Vision for Community-Engaged Data Curation in the Digital Humanities

  • Author / Creator
    Zvyagintseva, Lydia
  • The purpose of this study was to identify critical elements in a conceptual model for a community-engaged data curation in the digital humanities, to propose a set of evaluation criteria that would act as guiding principles in pursuing such work in the future, and to explore ways in which community-engaged data curation practice can further the mission of public digital humanities. I selected 28 data curation projects taking place in the digital humanities as my study population and collected data in the form of observations from the project websites, seeking evidence of emergent themes related to the categories of data curation, digital humanities and community engagement. I adopted a grounded theory methodological approach with a pragmatist theoretical perspective, as such approaches aligned well with the evidence-based orientation of this research study.
    Through a constant comparative data analysis method typical in a grounded theory study, I was able to identify the key elements of community-engaged data curation in the digital humanities as being systematic, reflective and participative. Having articulated the key elements of the conceptual model, I constructed an evaluation framework for conducting projects of this nature, with such criteria as adherence to established metadata standards, prioritization of data accessibility, and connecting the goals and mission of the project to its operations and data management practices. Finally, based on the examples observed in the study population, I argue that community-engaged data curation can become a form of advocacy for public digital humanities by seeking partnerships with community groups, committing to making research data accessible and providing meaningful ways for the public to contribute to the research projects.

  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Graduation date
    Spring 2015
  • Type of Item
    Thesis
  • Degree
    Master of Arts/Master of Library and Information Studies
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/R3M66S
  • License
    This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.