Our article has at last been published in Interdisciplinary Science Reviews (9 months late!).
My profound thanks to fellow-authors Dr. Olivia Vane and Dr. Florian Kräutli, and to the Special Issue editor Dr. Mario Verdicchio.
Abstract
Questions of trust are increasingly important in relation to data and its use. The authors focus on humanities data and its visualization, through analysis of their own recent projects with museums, archives and libraries internationally. Their account connects the specifics of hands-on digital humanities work to larger epistemological questions. They discuss the sources of potential mistrust, and examine how different expectations and assumptions emerge depending on the use and user of the data; they offer a simple schema through which the implications may be traced. It is argued that vital issues of trust can be engaged with through design, which, rather than being conceived as a cosmetic finish, is seen as contributing insights and questions that affect the whole process. The article concludes with recommendations intended to be useful in both theory and practice.
The article builds on the work that Florian and Olivia did as PhD students at the Royal College of Art, London, and in their subsequent roles at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, the Swiss Art Research Infrastructure, University of Zurich and on the Living with Machines project at the British Library.
The article is Gold Open Access.
You can read it here:
Citation: Stephen Boyd Davis, Olivia Vane & Florian Kräutli (2021) Can I believe what I see? Data visualization and trust in the humanities, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 46:4, 522-546
The articles in the Special Issue are:
- Mario Verdicchio (2021) Computing in this world, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 46:4, 427-429
- Deborah G. Johnson (2021) What is the relationship between computer technology and ethical issues?, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 46:4, 430-439
- Fabio Fossa (2021) Artificial agency and the game of semantic extension, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 46:4, 440-457
- Crystal Hall, Eric Chown & Fernando Nascimento (2021) A critical, analytical framework for the digital machine, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 46:4, 458-476
- Patrick Egan (Pádraig Mac Aodhgáin) (2021) Insider or outsider? Exploring some digital challenges in ethnomusicology, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 46:4, 477-500
- Marcelo Vianna (2021) Coordinating users to generate the base of the national industry – CAPRE’s role in controlling imports of computers and peripherals (1976–1979), Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 46:4, 501-521
- Stephen Boyd Davis, Olivia Vane & Florian Kräutli (2021) Can I believe what I see? Data visualization and trust in the humanities, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 46:4, 522-546
- Sébastien Plutniak (2021) Assyrian merchants meet nuclear physicists: history of the early contributions from social sciences to computer science. The case of automatic pattern detection in graphs (1950s–1970s), Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 46:4, 547-568
- Juan Luis Gastaldi & Luc Pellissier (2021) The calculus of language: explicit representation of emergent linguistic structure through type-theoretical paradigms, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 46:4, 569-590
- Adam Trybus (2021) Russell and the foundations of qualitative spatial reasoning: the first steps, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 46:4, 591-608
