TY - JOUR

T1 - Can I believe what I see? Data visualization and trust in the humanities

AU - Boyd Davis, Stephen

AU - Vane, Olivia

AU - Kräutli, Florian

PY - 2021/10

Y1 - 2021/10

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - bias

KW - certainty

KW - classification

KW - critical design

KW - Data visualization

KW - ethics

KW - GLAM

KW - interdisciplinarity

KW - interrogability

KW - naming

KW - omission

KW - precision

KW - scepticism

KW - Philosophy

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117111211&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/03080188.2021.1872874

DO - 10.1080/03080188.2021.1872874

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85117111211

VL - 46

SP - 522

EP - 546

JO - Interdisciplinary Science Reviews

JF - Interdisciplinary Science Reviews

SN - 0308-0188

IS - 4

ER -