Learning Data Criticism for Audiovisual Heritage Collections

Learning Data Criticism for Audiovisual Heritage Collections with Linked and Wikidata using the Media Suite

In my CLARIAH Lunch Lecture I will discuss the teaching innovation project Learning Data Criticism for Audiovisual Heritage Collections with Linked and Wikidata, which made use of the CLARIAH Media Suite in the context of the University of Amsterdam’s MA course Preservation & Access.

A key learning aim of the course is to introduce students to institutional strategies of collection access in (AV) archives, while nurturing critical approaches to opening up, combining and reusing collection data from multiple sources in online environments, beyond institutional settings. Aimed at a mixed group of students with a wide variety of backgrounds and skill sets – ranging from media, film, history, digital heritage and information studies – the course faces the challenge of addressing different levels of data literacy among students, while having to ensure that students can draw on relevant course theory to critically evaluate and design data-driven archival access projects.

To address this challenge, the proposed teaching innovation project developed a hands-on assignment and workshop format that fosters critical approaches to collection data access by introducing students to the principles of LOD and wikidata through a series of small data-driven exercises. In my presentation, I will discuss the set-up and development of the workshop format and reflect on future perspectives for teaching LOD and wikidata at the UvA’s Media Studies Department using the Media Suite.