CFP: Recounting Algorithms: A Workshop on Critical Algorithm Studies in the
Library
Abstract + bio due Jan 17th to [log in to unmask]
More below.

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> [Apologies for cross-posting]
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> *Recounting Algorithms: A Workshop on Critical Algorithm Studies in the
> Library*
>
> *University of Toronto Mississauga Library*
>
> *May 7–8, 2020*
>
> [https://recounting.net/]
> Call For Proposals
>
> How can libraries and archives best contribute to emerging critical
> discourses around algorithms, machine learning, and artificial
> intelligence? Recounting Algorithms is a two-day workshop, supported by
the
> Council on Library and Information Resources and hosted by the University
> of Toronto Mississauga Library, that aims to enrich the intersections of
> critical algorithm studies and academic librarianship.
>
> Efforts to historicize, culturally situate, and foreground algorithmic
> systems as manifestations of bias and power have flourished recently. Work
> in this area has contributed important insights into the often oppressive
> operational conditions of systems used to automate tasks such as hiring,
> criminal risk assessment, supply chain management, web page ranking, and
> surveillance. The robustness of this growing field of inquiry is
> demonstrated in the varied institutional backgrounds of those who have
> contributed to it—they include journalists, artists, advocates, and
> academic researchers from across the disciplinary spectrum.
>
> Librarians and archivists are beginning to incorporate aspects of this
> critical discourse through projects that advance algorithmic literacy and
> initiatives, like Information Maintainers
> <http://themaintainers.org/info-mc-work>, that emphasize the intersection
> of information technology, data governance, and social justice. Relatedly,
> initiatives such as Emulation as a Service
> <https://www.softwarepreservationnetwork.org/eaasi/> and Collections as
Data
> <https://collectionsasdata.github.io/> suggest new services and
> infrastructures that might facilitate analysis of algorithmic systems.
>
> *We invite proposals for pedagogical resources, creative projects, and
> library services that explore how libraries can support and build on
> investigations of algorithmic systems (including machine learning and AI)
> and their enabling social conditions*. While proposals should be oriented
> toward the library as a context for sustaining and supporting instruction
> and critical inquiry, we encourage submissions from non-librarians,
> particularly from educators, researchers, graduate students, artists,
> journalists and advocates. Potential themes include but are not limited
to:
>
>    - Projects to collect, preserve, and curate materials relevant to the
>    study of algorithmic systems.
>    - Resources for addressing emerging aspects of information and digital
>    literacy related to machine learning and artificial intelligence.
>    - Projects that reframe core values and practices (such as access and
>    literacy) in light of work from critical algorithm studies.
>
> Invited workshop attendees will present proposals (in draft or prototype
> form) and participate in workshop activities to further develop their
> projects. Projects will be shared as an online resource following the
> workshop.
> Submissions
>
> Submissions should include a project abstract (500-word max) and bio
> (50-word max) for each presenter. If submitting with co-authors, please
> limit the group to no more than three presenters. Please submit all
> materials via email [log in to unmask] by January 17, 2020.
> Successful applicants will be notified of acceptance by February 7, 2020.
> Email [log in to unmask] with additional questions.
> Keynotes
>
> Keynote speakers will be announced in the coming weeks. Check back soon!
> Coordinators
>
>    - Seth Erickson (Penn State University Libraries)
>    - Chris Young (University of Toronto Mississauga)
>    - Andrew Meade McGee (Carnegie Mellon University Libraries)
>    - Wendy Hoi Yan Wong (Chinese University of Hong Kong Library)
>    - Justin Shanks (Montana State University Library)