Data feminism in museum collections: mapping principles to practices

Introduction. In library, archive, and museum (LAM) collections, there has been much work towards restorative cataloguing and addressing harms found within collection data. However, this work is still being done in ad-hoc ways. As a result, there is both 1) a lack of a comprehensive summary of this...

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Main Author: Alexandria Rayburn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Borås 2025-03-01
Series:Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
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Online Access:https://publicera.kb.se/ir/article/view/47332
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author Alexandria Rayburn
author_facet Alexandria Rayburn
author_sort Alexandria Rayburn
collection DOAJ
description Introduction. In library, archive, and museum (LAM) collections, there has been much work towards restorative cataloguing and addressing harms found within collection data. However, this work is still being done in ad-hoc ways. As a result, there is both 1) a lack of a comprehensive summary of this work and 2) a gap in connecting this work to similar research in critical data studies. Parallel to this, the recent publication data feminism, offers a framework for critically examining data practices through a lens of power and oppression. Method. This qualitative systemic review maps the seven principles of Data Feminism (Examine Power, Challenge Power, Elevate Emotion and Embodiment, Re-think Binaries and Hierarchies, Embrace Pluralism, Consider Context, Make Labor Visible) to existing work happening in museum collections. Results. While museum practitioners are adept at understanding the limitations of their data schemas and organizing structures, further work is required to incorporate emotion and embodiment into museum data, as the current model relies on external researchers and community members for this. Conclusion. This review underscores the importance of interdisciplinary work and speaks to the intensive data labor happening in LAM collections; it also offers actionable insights for advancing feminist data practices within museum collections.
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spelling doaj-art-a9143af8d11d4e0d9a2658bbb41aa1c72025-08-20T02:58:18ZengUniversity of BoråsInformation Research: An International Electronic Journal1368-16132025-03-0130iConf10.47989/ir30iConf47332Data feminism in museum collections: mapping principles to practicesAlexandria Rayburn0University of Michigan, United States of America Introduction. In library, archive, and museum (LAM) collections, there has been much work towards restorative cataloguing and addressing harms found within collection data. However, this work is still being done in ad-hoc ways. As a result, there is both 1) a lack of a comprehensive summary of this work and 2) a gap in connecting this work to similar research in critical data studies. Parallel to this, the recent publication data feminism, offers a framework for critically examining data practices through a lens of power and oppression. Method. This qualitative systemic review maps the seven principles of Data Feminism (Examine Power, Challenge Power, Elevate Emotion and Embodiment, Re-think Binaries and Hierarchies, Embrace Pluralism, Consider Context, Make Labor Visible) to existing work happening in museum collections. Results. While museum practitioners are adept at understanding the limitations of their data schemas and organizing structures, further work is required to incorporate emotion and embodiment into museum data, as the current model relies on external researchers and community members for this. Conclusion. This review underscores the importance of interdisciplinary work and speaks to the intensive data labor happening in LAM collections; it also offers actionable insights for advancing feminist data practices within museum collections. https://publicera.kb.se/ir/article/view/47332museum computingcritical cataloging
spellingShingle Alexandria Rayburn
Data feminism in museum collections: mapping principles to practices
Information Research: An International Electronic Journal
museum computing
critical cataloging
title Data feminism in museum collections: mapping principles to practices
title_full Data feminism in museum collections: mapping principles to practices
title_fullStr Data feminism in museum collections: mapping principles to practices
title_full_unstemmed Data feminism in museum collections: mapping principles to practices
title_short Data feminism in museum collections: mapping principles to practices
title_sort data feminism in museum collections mapping principles to practices
topic museum computing
critical cataloging
url https://publicera.kb.se/ir/article/view/47332
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