Data Skills Session

Facilitators: Gauti Sigthorsson (U. of Roehampton), Carla Fernandez (UAL), Harry Solomons (UAL, LCC)

Session Summary

This session supports the overall aim of today's event, to co-create inclusive data skills assets and materials for arts and humanities researchers with Wikimedia UK and the DAReS project team. The theme of this session is "What works for Arts & Humanities practitioners when working with data?" Therefore, we aim to explore arts and humanities-specific approaches to data, tools, methods and research outputs. Facilitators will work with the following themes as starting points. Participants are welcome to move between groupings as they wish:

What counts as data in arts and humanities? Facilitator: Harry Solomons. Focusing on the distinction between qualitative and quantitative data, this session unpacks what counts as data in the arts and humanities, including quantitative and qualitative data, as the most readily apparent form of data in social sciences. Case studies, data sources and primary/secondary data considered, along with specific case studies.

How can you tell stories with data? Facilitator: Carla Fernandez. Focusing on data visualisation as both a research method and a practice, this session focuses on the route to exploration, discovery and the storytelling of information. Explore, Discover, Explain.

Data Practices Facilitator: Gauti Sigthorsson. This session focuses on key data skills questions to connect arts and humanities projects or topics to specific tools and methods

What implications do choices of tools and methods have for inclusion/exclusion?
It is necessary to give less privileged groups/communities voices through new ways to access existing data/content platforms.
The Wikimedia/wiki book or a university department could create a new system of accreditations to allow those groups to access the many block/paywall websites.
What works for artists and humanities researchers when working with data?
Methods, techniques, tools: What are the tools of choice for you as arts and humanities researchers and/or practitioners?
What data and digital research skills are most relevant for arts and humanities practitioners/researchers?
The existing data/research supplied by those knowledgeable in their fields/themes can allow new practitioners to develop those subjects further, adding the many missing voices. Also, translating the many existing works from other continents, namely from the Global South, could add much value to make the current Arts and humanities texts more factual.

External link to Google Doc: Document for drafting