Information School Faculty Data and Research

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://digital.lib.washington.edu/handle/1773/27624

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Being Sensemakers: A Framework for University-Based Rapid Research of Elections, Crisis Events, and Beyond
(2025-12-09) Tomson, Danielle Lee; Starbird, Kate; Bayar, Mert Can; Grass, Michael; Spiro, Emma
The 2024 Election Rumor Research Project (ERRP) at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public pursued a kind of research often runs counter to traditional academic norms and incentives: it moves fast, responds to urgent public information needs in real time, spans and integrates multiple disciplines, and prioritizes public impact over publication in peer-reviewed journals. Building on two previous election cycle efforts, ERRP operated within a research center designed to support scholarship in the public interest, providing essential infrastructure, staff, funding, and coordination across efforts. Though academic incentives are often misaligned with this kind of work, there is value in the academy engaging in real-time research and publication during unfolding news events. Echoing the “rumor clinics” of the Second World War—which sought to dispel morale-killing gossip—rapid research projects like ours can help the public make sense not only of what is happening, but also of how rumors, or unverified claims, operate during times of uncertainty. In doing so, they contribute to both civic and psychological resilience. Time-sensitive work also fosters strong relationships among students, faculty, journalists, election officials, and the public—relationships as valuable as the datasets and outputs produced in the course of research. By providing timely insight, such work can build trust in the academy and underscore its civic function.
Information as a relation: Defining Indigenous information literacy
(2023-12-05) Littletree, Sandra; Andrews, Nicola; Loyer, Jessie
Informed by relationality and reciprocity, Indigenous librarians who teach play a key role in creating learning opportunities for students to gain information literacy (IL) skills and become better users and creators of information. Through unstructured interviews with seven Indigenous librarians, we find that Indigenous identity and ways of knowing based on relationality and reciprocity are key components shaping the pedagogy of Indigenous librarians, as it informs the ways they enact accountability, build relationships, set boundaries, and practice care. Through this work, we offer a definition of Indigenous information literacy, which is the ability to use information and create or gain knowledge, while practicing the Indigenous concepts of relationality, reciprocity, and respect. This work lays the groundwork for further explorations of relationality, kinship, and Indigenous ways of knowing in information literacy and Indigenous librarianship.
Data Services for Indigenous Scholarship and Sovereignty (DSISS): Report on the 2022 Workshop
(2023-10-05) Palmer, Carole L.; Belarde-Lewis, Miranda; Littletree, Sandra; Braine, Iisaaksiichaa Ross; Srader, Kaitlin
The Data Services for Indigenous Scholarship and Sovereignty (DSISS) project is deriving its understanding of how to implement CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, and Ethics) through engagement with Indigenous scholars and data professionals invested in putting the principles into practice. While Research Data Services (RDS) tends to prioritize data access and sharing, DSISS emphasizes preservation and governance based on Indigenous scholars, community needs and goals. For this foundational workshop, participants were invited that represented the interests of both scholars and libraries. The guiding statement for the workshop was: "Stewarding Indigenous research data with CARE". Our approach to the CARE Principles in RDS prioritizes the values and norms of stakeholders within their specific contexts, in accordance with the concept of contextual integrity. Scholar participants represented the Indigenous methods and the data practices, needs, and aspirations of active Indigenous culture and language researchers, both Native and non-Native. Library and repository participants represented the perspectives of librarians, curators, and developers in data services in library and repository environments. The following workshop objectives provided direction in the development of the program and activities: (1) Identify scholar priorities based on research methods, data practices, and “contextual integrity” factors; (2) Identify challenges and tractable steps for libraries and repositories for supporting scholar priorities and the CARE principles; (3) Examine potential of Traditional Knowledge (TK) labels approach for application to Indigenous research data.
Centering Washington Tribal Libraries: Establishing the Foundations
(Washington Library Association (online journal), 2023-01-23) Littletee, Sandy; Aden, Cindy
In this article, we will describe a project called “Centering Washington Tribal Libraries: Building Relationships and Understanding Libraries from the Stories of Their Communities,” hereafter referred to as CWATL, based at the University of Washington Information School (UW iSchool). This one-year project, sponsored by a Mellon Foundation Public Knowledge grant, is designed to establish a foundation for working with Washington tribal communities and listening to the stories these communities tell about their libraries.
Repeat Spreaders and Election Delegitimization: A Comprehensive Dataset of Misinformation Tweets from the 2020 U.S. Election
(2022-09-15) Kennedy, Ian; Wack, Morgan; Beers, Andrew; Schafer, Joseph S.; Garcia-Camargo, Isabella; Spiro, Emma S.; Starbird, Kate
This paper introduces and presents a first analysis of a uniquely curated dataset of misinformation, disinformation, and rumors spreading on Twitter about the 2020 U.S. election. Previous research on misinformation—an umbrella term for false and misleading content—has largely focused either on broad categories, using a finite set of keywords to cover a complex topic, or on a few, focused case studies, with increased precision but limited scope. Our approach, by comparison, leverages real-time reports collected from September through November 2020 to develop a comprehensive dataset of tweets connected to 456 distinct misinformation stories from the 2020 U.S. election (our ElectionMisinfo2020 dataset), 307 of which sowed doubt in the legitimacy of the election. By relying on real-time incidents and streaming data, we generate a curated dataset that not only provides more granularity than a large collection based on a finite number of search terms, but also an improved opportunity for generalization compared to a small set of case studies. Though the emphasis is on misleading content, not all of the tweets linked to a misinformation story are false: some are questions, opinions, corrections, or factual content that nonetheless contributes to misperceptions. Along with a detailed description of the data, this paper provides an analysis of a critical subset of election-delegitimizing misinformation in terms of size, content, temporal diffusion, and partisanship. We label key ideological clusters of accounts within interaction networks, describe common misinformation narratives, and identify those accounts which repeatedly spread misinformation. We document the asymmetry of misinformation spread: accounts associated with support for President Biden shared stories in ElectionMisinfo2020 far less than accounts supporting his opponent. That asymmetry remained among the accounts who were repeatedly influential in the spread of misleading content that sowed doubt in the election: all but two of the top 100 ‘repeat spreader’ accounts were supporters of then-President Trump. These findings support the implementation and enforcement of ‘strike rules’ on social media platforms, directly addressing the outsized role of repeat spreaders.
Indigenous Research Data Case Study: Toward Contextual Integrity for Indigenous Data
(2022-08-09) Palmer, Carole L.; Belarde-Lewis, Miranda; Hohn, Tami; Teuton, Christopher B.
This white paper examines the complexities and constraints inherent in the stewardship of qualitative Indigenous research data. Framed by a background discussion covering Indigenous research approaches, ethical engagement, and Indigenous data sovereignty, the paper presents three research cases involving Cherokee, Nisqually, and Zuni communities and data sources. The case studies represent current perspectives, priorities, and practices of scholars committed to ethical work with Indigenous tribes, communities, and families. Informed by the concept of contextual integrity and the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance, the analysis develops a contextual integrity profiling approach for explicating significant contextual factors associated with each case and preliminary data curation goals aimed at achieving CARE compliant protocols and protections for qualitative data infrastructure and services.
Open Data for Public Good: Final Report Narrative
(2021-06-24) Palmer, Carole; Weber, Nicholas; Norlander, Bree; Throgmorton, Kaitlin; Schwartz, Lindsey; Wedlake, Stacey
This report summarizes the five-year trajectory of the Open Data Literacy project (ODL), formerly named Open Data for Public Good (ODPG). The purpose of ODL's work was to 1) Prepare future and current public librarians and information professionals to a) curate collections of open data of value to local communities, and b) build the necessary infrastructure and preservation environments to sustain open data collections for long-term sustainability of these valued assets, and 2) collaborate with public sector agencies and open data providers on advocacy and outreach activities that increase awareness about and use of open data by the public. ODL had three broad areas of focus: 1) curriculum, 2) fieldwork, and 3) research. This multi-faceted approach formed a strong foundation for educating new professionals but also for supporting and promoting the uptake of open data work by libraries and the broader public sector. Partnerships were fundamental to building capacity and assuring practical applicability of our interdependent education, engagement, and research activities. Library partners included urban, rural, and state libraries; government partners spanned both state and city agencies. The integrated, collaborative approach succeeded at creating vital connections between students and practitioners, and between theory and practice, with tangible outcomes, particularly new curriculum and field experiences for students, but also publications, resources, and job placements for students.
Teaching Data Ethics: Foundations and Possibilities from Engineering and Computer Science Ethics Education
(2021) Hoffmann, Anna Lauren; Cross, Katherine Alejandra
Ethical, social, and other considerations have been acknowledged as important for data science education. However, research is only beginning to emerge on how such considerations are being incorporated into data science curricula. This review of literature reflects an attempt to systematically trace connections and disjunctions between data science ethics education and its precursors in engineering and computer science ethics education.
Centering Relationality: A Conceptual Model to Advance Indigenous Knowledge Organization Practices
(2020-11) Littletree, Sandra; Belarde-Lewis, Miranda; Duarte, Marisa
Scholars and practitioners have exposed the limitations of traditional Euro-American approaches to knowledge organization (KO) when it comes to Indigenous topics. To develop more effective KO practices, there is a need for KO practitioners to understand Indigenous perspectives at an epistemological level. A theoretically informed model of Indigenous systems of knowledge serves as a pedagogical tool to support the labor of boundary spanning and code-switching between Euro-American KO practices and Indigenous KO practices.
‘Of course, data can never fully represent reality’: Assessing the relationship between Indigenous data and IK, TEK, and TK
(2020-11) Duarte, Marisa E.; Vigil-Hayes, Morgan; Littletree, Sandra; Belarde-Lewis, Miranda
Multiple terms describe Indigenous peoples' creative expressions, including “Indigenous knowledge” (IK), “traditional ecological knowledge” (TEK), “traditional knowledge” (TK), and increasingly, “Indigenous data” (ID). Variation in terms contributes to disciplinary divides, challenges in organizing and finding prior studies about Indigenous peoples' creative expressions, and intellectually divergent chains of reference. The authors applied a decolonial, digital, feminist, ethics-of-care approach to citation analysis of records about Indigenous peoples knowledge and data, including network analyses of author-generated keywords and research areas, and content analysis of peer-reviewed studies about ID. Results reveal ambiguous uses of the term “Indigenous data”; the influence of ecology and environmental studies in research areas and topics associated with IK, TEK, and TK; and the influence of public administration and governance studies in research areas and topics associated with ID studies. Researchers of ID would benefit from applying a more nuanced and robust vocabulary, one informed by studies of IK, TEK, and TK. Researchers of TEK and TK would benefit from the more people-centered approaches of IK. Researchers and systems designers who work with data sets can practice relational accountability by centering the Indigenous peoples from whom observations are sourced, combining narrative methodologies with computational methods to sustain the holism favored by Indigenous science and the relationality of Indigenous peoples.
DCC Curation Lifecycle Model 2.0: Literature Review and Comparative Analysis
(2020-03) Huang, Caihong; Lee, Jian-Sin; Palmer, Carole L.
The literature covered in this report was gathered and reviewed as background for the DCC Curation Lifecycle Model 2.0 project. Led by Sayeed Choudhury at Johns Hopkins University and funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the project provided a foundation for updating the original DCC model, originally published in 2008. A revised model is needed to accommodate the dramatic changes in the context of data production and use, and the associated impact on data archives and repositories.
Table 1. Motivation factors identified in the literature as they relate to motivation factors in present study
(2019) Cho, Hyerim; Lee, Jin Ha; Smith, Josh
Open Data for Public Good: Interim Performance Report Year 1, July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2017
(2017-09-28) Palmer, Carole; Weber, Nicholas; Yan, An
The Open Data for Public Good (ODPG) project began July 1, 2016. The purpose of ODPG’s work is threefold: 1. To prepare future and current public librarians to curate collections of open data of value to local communities, 2. To gain experience in building the necessary infrastructure and preservation environments to sustain open data collections for long-term sustainability of these valued assets, and 3. To make collaborate with open civic data providers on advocacy and outreach activities that increase awareness about, and use of open data by the public. Over the course of ODPG’s first year the goals of the project are being achieved through the development of new LIS and data science curriculum, as well as practical learning experiences for students enrolled at the University of Washington’s iSchool. ODPG’s curriculum development activities have focused specifically on new course modules for curating and responsibly managing open civic data. Practical learning experiences have also been facilitated in collaboration with a network of practicing information professionals from the public sector-- each of whom represent a municipal or state government agency engaged in ongoing open data initiatives that can directly benefit from the data expertise of an LIS workforce. We have completed the first year of our three-year program. During this past year we focused on: 1. Updating graduate-level data curation curriculum 2. Pairing students with external partners for field experiences both as Capstone projects and as summer internships 3. Outreach to external partners, potential partners, and the open data community
[Appendix] Art in an Algorithm: A Taxonomy for Describing Video Game Visual Styles
(2018) Cho, Hyerim; Donovan, Andy; Lee, Jin Ha
[Appendix] Art in an Algorithm: A Taxonomy for Describing Video Game Visual Styles
(2018) Cho, Hyerim; Donovan, Andy; Lee, Jin Ha
Investigating the Roles and Requirements, Manifestations and Management of Metadata in the Creation of Reliable and Preservation of Authentic Electronic Entities Created by Dynamic, Interactive and Experiential Systems: Report on the Work and Findings of the Interpares 2 Description Cross Domain Group
Gilliland, Anne; Evans, Joanne; Langmead, Alison; Leahey-Sugimoto, Monique; Lindberg, Lori; McCargar, Victoria; Tennis, Joseph T.; Wang, Holly
Metadata that is associated with either an information system or an information object for purposes of description, administration, legal requirements, technical functionality, use and usage, and preservation, plays a critical role in ensuring the creation, management, preservation and use and re-use of trustworthymaterials, including records. Recordkeeping1 metadata, of which one key type is archival description, plays a particularly important role in documenting the reliability and authenticity of records and recordkeeping systemsas well as the various contexts (legal-administrative, provenancial, procedural, documentary, and technical) within which records are created and kept as they move across space and time. In the digital environment, metadata is also the means by which it is possible to identify how record components – those constituent aspects of a digital record that may be managed, stored and used separately by the creator or the preserver – can be reassembled to generate an authentic copy of a record or reformulated per a user’s request as a customized output package.Issues relating to the creation, capture, management and preservation of adequate metadata are, therefore, integral to any research study addressing the reliability and authenticity of digital entities, regardless of the community, sector or institution within which they are being created. The InterPARES 2 Description Cross-Domain Group (DCD) examined the conceptualization, definitions, roles, and current functionality of metadata and archival description in terms of requirements generated by InterPARES 12. Because of the needs to communicate the work of InterPARES in a meaningful way across not only other disciplines, but also different archival traditions; to interface with, evaluate and inform existing standards, practices and other research projects; and to ensure interoperability across the three focus areas of InterPARES2, the Description Cross-Domain also addressed its research goals with reference to wider thinking about and developments in recordkeeping and metadata. InterPARES2 addressed not only records, however, but a range of digital information objects (referred to as “entities” by InterPARES 2, but not to be confused with the term “entities” as used in metadata and database applications) that are the products and by-products of government, scientific and artistic activities that are carried out using dynamic, interactive or experiential digital systems. The nature of these entities was determined through a diplomatic analysis undertaken as part of extensive case studies of digital systems that were conducted by the InterPARES 2 Focus Groups. This diplomatic analysis established whether the entities identified during the case studies were records, non-records that nevertheless raised important concerns relating to reliability and authenticity, or “potential records.” To be determined to be records, the entities had to meet the criteria outlined by archival theory – they had to have a fixed documentary format and stable content. It was not sufficient that they be considered to be or treated as records by the creator. “Potential records” is a new construct that indicates that a digital system has the potential to create records upon demand, but does not actually fix and set aside records in the normal course of business. The work of the Description Cross-Domain Group, therefore, addresses the metadata needs for all three categories of entities.Finally, since “metadata” as a term is used today so ubiquitously and in so many different ways by different communities, that it is in peril of losing any specificity, part of the work of the DCD sought to name and type categories of metadata. It also addressed incentives for creators to generate appropriate metadata, as well as issues associated with the retention, maintenance and eventual disposition of the metadata that aggregates around digital entities over time.
Function, Purpose, Predication, and Context of Information Organization Frameworks
(Advances in Knowledge Organization) Tennis, Joseph T.
This paper outlines the purposes, predications, functions, and contexts of information organization frameworks; including: bibliographic control, information retrieval, resource discovery, resource description, open access scholarly indexing, personal information management protocols, and social tagging in order to compare and contrast those purposes, predications, functions, and contexts. Information organization frameworks, for the purpose of this paper, consist of information organization systems (classification schemes, taxonomies, ontologies, bibliographic descriptions, etc.), methods of conceiving of and creating the systems, and the work processes involved in maintaining these systems. The paper first outlines the theoretical literature of these information organization frameworks. In conclusion, this paper establishes the first part of an evaluation rubric for a function, predication, purpose, and context analysis.
Is There a New Bibliography?
(Cataloging and Classification Quarterly) Tennis, Joseph T.
Describes the position claiming that the contemporary technologi- cal, sociopolitical, and socioeconomic environment gives us pause to consider the core theory and practices of bibliography, combin- ing bibliography of the work (in library and information science), bibliography of the text (in textual studies and scholarly editing), and bibliography of the artifact (in book history and now digital forensics), and calls for collaborative multidisciplinary research at the intersection of these fields to ask, is there a new bibliography?
Foundational, First-Order, and Second-Order Classification Theory
(Knowledge Organization) Tennis, Joseph T.
Both basic and applied research on the construction, implementation, maintenance, and evaluation of classification schemes is called classification theory. If we employ Ritzer’s metatheoretical method of analysis on the over one-hundred year-old body of literature, we can see categories of theory emerge. This paper looks at one particular part of knowledge organization work, namely classification theory, and asks 1) what are the contours of this intellectual space, and, 2) what have we produced in the theoretical reflection on con- structing, implementing, and evaluating classification schemes? The preliminary findings from this work are that classification theory can be separated into three kinds: foundational classification theory, first-order classification theory, and second-order classification theory, each with its own concerns and objects of study.
Forms, Foundations, and the Ethos of Foremost: Zen Practice, Epistemology, and Ontology in Reflective Knowledge Organization
Tennis, Joseph T.
In reflecting on the practice of knowledge organization, we tacitly or explicitly root our conceptions of work and its value in some epistemic and ontological foundation. Zen Buddhist philosophy offers a unique set of conceptions vis-à-vis organizing, indexing, and describing documents.When we engage in knowledge organization, we are setting our mind to work with an intention. We intend to make some sort of intervention. We then create a form a realization of an abstraction (like classes or terms) [1], we do this from a foundation of some set of beliefs (epistemology, ontology, and ethics), and because we have to make decisions about what to privilege, we need to decide what is foremost in our minds. We must ask what is the most important thing?Form, foundation, and the ethos of foremost require evoke in our reflection on work number of ethical, epistemic, and ontological concerns that ripple throughout our conceptions of space, “good work”, aesthetics, and moral mandate [2,3]. We reflect on this.

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