Collections as Data at Indiana University and Beyond

Abstract

In response to federally-funded “Always Already Computational: Collections as Data” movement (https://collectionsasdata.github.io), the Indiana University Libraries are both exploring ways to provide access to our own digitized special collections for teaching and research and helping others discover non-IU collections for the same purposes. Those teaching or conducting research or creative pursuits in the arts and humanities have much to gain from interacting with digital collections as data. This brownbag will constructively a) critique ways in which cultural heritage organizations historically have made digital content available for sharing that are not quite conducive for re-use/re-mixing by scholars and students, b) explore how collections, including Indiana University collections, are currently made discoverable and portable, and c) identify the myriad of ways we can improve full access to these collections to advance cultural scholarship. Part of this brown bag will include hearing from you – how you currently use or would like to use existing digital collections in your teaching and research and your ideas about how we can facilitate those use cases.