Data Diversity

02/04/22 • 66 min

Museums have many facets, but one of their key functions is to serve as repositories for histories, cultures, and information. In more recent years, our field has begun to re-evaluate the specific stories museums have collected, and more importantly, amplify those that have been excluded. On February 1st we explored diversifying our data with Frances Lloyd-Baynes, Head of Collections Information Management at Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Additional Resources:

AAMC Artist Demographics Consortium

Judith Pineiro, Executive Director
AAMC & AAMC Foundation
[email protected]

Slack: TMS Artists Questionnaire Group

Jaye Melino, MoMA (Host)

[email protected]

"Decolonizing Digital Preservation", Monica Montgomery, Founder of Museum Hue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgU3HhzvJuY
On Feb 10, 2021 there was a "DAMS and Museums" one-day virtual conference focusing on digital asset management (images, videos, etc.) in the museum sector. Monica Montgomery, Founder of Museum Hue, gave a really great presentation on "Decolonizing Digital Preservation", which I think is applicable to everyone working in the cultural heritage space, not just folks managing digital assets. The session is now available to watch on the Henry Stewart DAMS YouTube channel. I highly recommend it. This presentation appears to be available only via the TMS List-Serv ([email protected]) through an informal sharing via email. Folks might be best-placed to contact the authors directly. "Building an Inclusive Database: Cataloging Race, Gender, Sexuality and Other Identities", Terri Anderson and Emily Houf, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Collective Imagination 2016 conference

Resources:

"Documenting Diversity: How should museums identify art and artists?" Frances Lloyd-Baynes, March 27, 2019.

https://www.aam-us.org/wire/medium/documenting-diversity/

Data Feminism. Catherine D'Ignazio, Lauren F. Klein. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2020

Digital Transgender Archives https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net /

Ethical Questions in Name Authority Control, Jane Sandberg, ed. Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press, 2019

Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences. Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh Star. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000

Bodies of Information: Intersectional Feminism and the Digital Humanities. Elizabeth Losh and ‎Jacqueline Wernimont. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2018

Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, How We Collect Data Determines Whose Voice Is Heard (2020) https://www.schusterman.org /blogs/rella-kaplowitz /how-we-collect-data-determines-whose-voice-is-heard

Additional Resources:

AAMC Artist Demographics Consortium

Judith Pineiro, Executive Director
AAMC & AAMC Foundation
[email protected]

Slack: TMS Artists Questionnaire Group

Jaye Melino, MoMA (Host)

[email protected]

"Decolonizing Digital Preservation", Monica Montgomery, Founder of Museum Hue

Resources:

"Documenting Diversity: How should museums identify art and artists?" Frances Lloyd-Baynes, March 27, 2019.

https://www.aam-us.org/wire/medium/documenting-diversity/

Data Feminism. Catherine D'Ignazio, Lauren F. Klein. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2020

Digital Transgender Archives https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net /

Ethical Questions in Name Authority Control, Jane Sandberg, ed. Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press, 2019

Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences. Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh Star. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000

Bodies of Information: Intersectional Feminism and the Digital Humanities. Elizabeth Losh and ‎Jacqueline Wernimont. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2018

Previous Episode

The Trials and Ethics of Rapid Response Collecting

In April of 2020, The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History launched a task force charged with collecting and documenting the impact of COVID-19 on history and culture. At a moment's notice they had to formulate a collecting strategy and begin the acquisition of objects and archives that documented a crisis that even now, almost 2 years later, continues to unfold.

On this #ARCSchat, we spoke with our guests Alexandra Lord and Joshua Gorman, the chair of the Division of Medicine and Science and Head of Collections Management respectively, about how they devised and implemented a collections strategy, and went about the task of documenting a crisis while in the crisis.

As the collection of objects relating to COVID-19 is ongoing and the institution wishes to cast a wide net, if you feel like you have a relevant artifact please contact the museum at [email protected].

Next Episode

Future-Proofing Intent in Time-Based Media

A painting in 100 years is still paint on its support and hangs on a wall, but time-based media will always change due to evolutions in technology and changes in performers and/or venues. As collections stewards, #ARCSchat will discuss how they actively protect the legacy of the artist and their work as it ages along with the technologies and personnel that present these pieces.

Panel:

sasha arden (they/them): Time-Based Media Conservator

Diego Mellado (he/him): Technical Director, Studio Daniel Canogar

Kate Weinstein (she/her): Collections Manager & Registrar, Thoma Foundation

Resources:

Guggenheim Time-based Media https://www.guggenheim.org/conservati...

Metropolitan Museum, Time-based Media Working Group https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-m...

Electronic Media Group, AIC https://community.culturalheritage.or...

Matters in Media Art http://mattersinmediaart.org/

Smithsonian, Time-based Media & Digital Art Resources https://www.si.edu/tbma/resources

MoMA Media Conservation Initiative https://www.mediaconservation.io/reso...

NYU, Workshops in Time-based Media (TBM) Art Conservation https://ifa.nyu.edu/conservation/tbm-...