This Spring and Fall, the
BitCurator Consortium (BCC) will facilitate a series of online round-table discussions on topics of interest for born-digital cultural heritage communities.
Our first round-table looks at “The Ethics of Born-Digital Collecting.” We're incredibly thrilled to welcome
Alexandra Dolan-Mescal (
Documenting the Now), Yvonne Ng (
Witness.org), Jessica Venlet (
UNC Chapel Hill), and Lauren Work (
University of Virginia) who will discuss their experiences and perspectives acquiring, preserving, and facilitating access to sensitive, community-driven born-digital content. The format will be a presentation/discussion facilitated by
Educopia and BCC staff.
Discussion questions we plan to address include:
- What kinds of ethical concerns do practitioners face in collecting born-digital materials?
- Does the appraisal process change (or need to change) with sensitive, born-digital materials? Why or why not?
- What are the risks for archivists and documentarians working in these spaces?
- How do you communicate with and offer support for creators of “content”?
- When is the right time to communicate with activists?
- How do you compensate people for their time?
- What is the process for collecting materials and how do you make pathways more visible to potential donors of sensitive materials?
- How can we enable community-driven description practices for dynamic content?
- How are archivists and documentarians handling the issue of consent? What kind of advising happens around collecting tweets?
The online event takes place via Zoom on Friday, March 22nd from 10:00AM-11:30AM EST.
Registration is free and open to the public with limited registration spots.
