Kathleen Burlingame (she/her, University of Pennsylvania), Alexandra Provo (she/her, New York University), B. M. Watson (they/them, University of British Columbia) and the Ethics in Linked Data Affinity Group seek chapter proposals for a new book, Ethics in Linked Data. As envisioned by the editors:
This edited collection brings together contributions that explore the consideration (or lack thereof) of ethics in linked data initiatives. Discussions about linked data and its potential are often utopian and technophiliac, rarely examining darker implications or harmful consequences. Since technology cannot exist outside of social and environmental spheres, it is important for creators and stewards of linked data and its related systems to recognize and address the impact (whether intended or not, positive or negative) on the communities, individuals, and ecosystems affected. Engaging in critical and ethical analysis is ultimately an optimistic endeavor aimed at exposing problematic issues, generating best practices and guidelines, and opening up positive and generative possibilities for the implementation and use of linked data in GLAMS (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums, Special Collections) … This book aims to collect the voices of practitioners, technologists, and developers working on linked data initiatives; scholars working at the intersection of ethics, cultural heritage, and technology; and workers in GLAMS, among others in order to explore emerging and changing technical and ethical landscapes. The editors seek chapters examining what it means to be ethical in a linked data environment, and especially welcome case studies, theoretical and practice-based essays, stories, content analyses, and other methods.
Possible topics may include (but are not limited to) the intersection(s) of linked data and:
- Ability to use linked data technology (social and technical)
- Accessibility/Ableism
- Codes of ethics/conduct
- Colonialism
- Controlled vocabularies and classification schemata
- Data sovereignty
- Discovery search and display (e.g., algorithms, knowledge graphs)
- Division of labor in data creation and curation
- Ethics in artificial intelligence
- Gender and sexuality
- Identity management
- Implicit bias
- Institutional and economic access to linked data technology
- Metadata longevity, authority, and data infrastructures
- Mitigating risks or harm
- Privacy
- Racism
- Surveillance
- Standardization and control
- Trust
- Value sensitive design
Please direct any questions and email abstracts of up to 500 words to in a .docx or .pdf format, along with a short author bio around 100 words to brimwats@mail.ubc.ca.
Deadline for Chapter Proposals: March 31, 2021. Notification of Accepted Chapter Proposals: April 30, 2021. Chapter drafts due: December 15, 2021