Enhancing Digital Access: Computational Strategies for Digital Research and Reference Service

This is a one-day workshop/webinar focused on working with participants to explore computational strategies (i.e., computational thinking, methods, and tools) to analyze, visualize, and display complex digital/digitized archival records.  Hands on demos and exercises will aid participants in developing or enhancing their skills in working with linked data to create new knowledge designed to refine and expand access to complex archival records and historical issues.

The demos and exercises are based on real-world projects that involve records of Japanese-American World War II Incarceration Camps, and the Legacy of Slavery project hosted at the Maryland State Archives. The exercises in the case studies are designed to assist participants in analyzing digital collections, extracting metadata, and connecting previously disconnected information into “knowledge graphs.” Theory and practice involving graph analytics and graph databases will be used to illustrate various approaches to representing the archives. Legal, technological, social, and cultural challenges to access will be discussed including personally identifiable information (PII), security, and intellectual property rights.