CAPTURE talks

Wednesday September 11, 2024 at 13:00-15:00 CEST online

Talk titled: "Knowledge organisation as typography, layout and space - an exploration of the visual elements of classification schemes" by Deborah Lee, University College London (UCL).

The talk is give on zoom, registration is required. This talk will not be recorded.

Bibliographic classification schemes are an important type of system for organising knowledge and attract much discourse around their contents and how they work. Yet, the way that they communicate their information to the users of such schemes receives little attention. So, this talk explores a particular and novel aspect of this communication: the visual aspects contained within printed classification schemes. The research uses a classification scheme analysis methodology, analysing the visual elements of multiple printed classification schemes and digital classification schemes. Three different classification scheme phenomena are discussed in terms of their visualisation: hierarchy, notation and notes. Indentation is found to be a significant method of communicating hierarchy, and represents a transmutation from two dimensions into one. The visual elements of notation reveal a strong separation between notation and class, highlighting how exploring visual elements can tell us about the nature of classification schemes. The visual elements of notes demonstrate a wide range of visual methods, and a varying narrative of how notes fit within the concept of the classification scheme. Then, a categorisation system for visual elements in classification schemes is presented, alongside two models of classification scheme visualisation. The talk ends with a consideration of how the visual elements of classification schemes might be considered through the lens of paratexts. Ultimately, looking at visual aspects of classification schemes takes a novel lens to thinking about knowledge organisation, and moreover can help us to understand the nature of classification schemes themselves.

DEBORAH LEE is a Lecturer in Library and Information Studies at University College London (UCL), specialising in researching and teaching knowledge organisation. She is currently the Admissions Tutor for the MA in Library and Information Studies, and from 23rd September will be the Programme Director. Deborah was awarded her PhD in Library and Information Science in 2017 from City, University of London, and her thesis is a deep analysis of the classification of Western art music. Her research interests include music classification, theories of knowledge organisation systems, and arts cataloguing and classification. Deborah’s research appears in publications including Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Journal of Information Science, Journal of Documentation, Knowledge Organization, Journal of Library Metadata, Art Libraries Journal and Proceedings of the Document Academy, among others.

Wednesday November 29, 2023 at 13:00-15:00 CET online

Talk titled "Paradata as protocol. Mapping archaeological practice with the Tradition in Transition methodology" by Loes Opgenhaffen (Saxion University of Applied Science).

Data transparency is essential to foster (re)use of data and to increase comparability between datasets. Knowing how a 3D artefact of a particular vessel was produced, allows to assess its efficacy in comparing it with another 3D artefact. This kind of paradata about the production, however, does not necessarily improve the data itself hence its comparability. To respond to this inconsistency in the creative practices of 3D data, workflows should be aligned, and therefore recorded, shared and reproduced in a similar way in order to produce qualitatively balanced 3D artefacts. In this light, the workflow is the paradata. This is not a mechanical process but a complex social negotiation occurring within the wider community of practice. No data object, whether analogue or digital, is produced in isolation, nor can its specific way of production be learned in seclusion. The conceptual framework Tradition in Transition provides guidance in documenting such practice. It combines praxeological theory derived from sociology, such as the chaîne opératoire approach and reflexivity. In this talk, I will present case studies of the visualization practice of recording pottery and demonstrate how this was documented, assessed, transferred and, finally, reproduced to produce similar visual results with the Tradition in Transition methodology.

Dr Loes Opgenhaffen is lecturer in archaeology and digital practice at the Saxion University of Applied Sciences (School of Business, Building and Technology) and affiliated researcher at the University of Amsterdam (ACASA-Department of Archaeology). Her PhD research focused on how both past and modern practices respond to the introduction of new technology. Loes currently focuses on developing new 3D workflows for educational purposes and experiments with 3D recording solutions and its application to capture challenging geometries, materials or extremely small-sized objects. Her research continues revolve on the impact of technology on archaeological visualization and knowledge-making traditions.

A recording of the talk is available online. A version with closed captions can be found in Youtube.

Wednesday November 16, 1.15-15.00 pm CET online

Talk titled "D-WISE: With Manual and Digital Approaches towards a Tool Suite for Discourse Analysis" by Isabel Eiser (University of Hamburg)

How can DH methods be meaningfully integrated into qualitative discourse analysis knowledge production? How can existing methods be adopted and new methods be developed for this purpose?

An integral part of the D-WISE project and to approach these questions is the epistemological reflection and further development of hermeneutical methodology in the use of (semi)automated processes. Bridging the gap between structural patterns detected with digital methods and interpretative processes of human meaning making is at the core of the collaborative approach of anthropological studies and computer linguistics in the D-WISE project. The project innovates both informatics AI-technology of context-oriented embedding representations and hermeneutic methodologies for discourse analysis to the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse. Exploring the combination of manual and digital approaches to discourse analysis the D-WISE team aims to develop a prototypical web-based working environment (the D-WISE Tool Suite) for digital qualitative discourse analysis on basis of already successfully used DH methods and the parallel processing by researchers from Humanities and Informatics.

D-WISE
The BMBF-funded joint research project D-WISE research project is a collaborative and interdisciplinary project between a team of researchers of the Humanities, represented by the Institute of Anthropological Studies in Culture and History, and a team of researchers of Information Technologies, represented by the Language Technology Group at the Department of Informatics, both at University Hamburg. www.dwise.uni-hamburg.de

Isabel Eiser
On behalf of the D-WISE project team Isabel Eiser will present an overview of the project. She is a research fellow in the D-WISE project at the Institute of Anthropological Studies in Culture and History at University Hamburg and PhD candidate at the research center “Hamburg’s (post-)colonial legacy” in Global History at University Hamburg. Her PhD thesis is titled “Becoming an Emblem. From Colonial Propaganda to Decolonial Movement. A Discourse Analysis on the ‘Benin Bronzes’” and is planned to be finalized in 2023.

A recording of the talk is available online. A version with closed captions can be found in Youtube.

Wednesday October 11, 2023 at 13:00-15:00 CET online

Talk titled "Changing archaeological documentation practices and consequences for our data" by Åsa Berggren (Lund University).

Archaeological documentation practices have changed profoundly during recent decades, which has had a great impact on archaeological data – how it is collected, structured and stored. This in turn has consequences for how data can be analyzed and how knowledge is created, and even which knowledge can be created. The changes of our practices are first and foremost driven by a technological development, however, increasing theoretical concerns are voiced and a discussion theorizing the digital development is seen.
In this talk a comparison of manual and digital documentation methods as described in a case study performed in 2014 will be used as a starting point for a discussion concerning these consequences, for example the impact on the archaeological interpretation process, the possibility of innovation and international objectives such as the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles. In addition, a more recent study integrating new digital developments and applications in archaeological documentation and language documentation, is pointing towards solving some of the discussed issues but also lead to other questions e.g. concerning manageability of data.

Dr Åsa Berggren is senior lecturer in archaeology at the Lund University. Her research areas include the intersection between theory and practice and development of methods of archaeological field practice, e.g. digital practice and how this impacts the process of archaeological interpretation. Her research is focused on Neolithic remains, e.g. wetland deposits. Her theoretical focus is practice theory, ritual theory and theory on material culture. After more than 25 years as a contract archaeologist in Scania, she is also interested in the development and conditions of Swedish contract archaeology.

A recording of the talk is available online. A version with closed captions can be found in Youtube.

Tuesday April 5, 2022 at 6.00-8.00 PM CET

Talk titled "(Re)Constructing Saqqara: Challenges in 3D Data Visualization and Publication" by Dr. Elaine Sullivan (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Abstract: Constructing the sacred, visibility and ritual landscape at the Egyptian necropolis of Saqqara (Stanford University Press), a born-digital monograph utilizing a 3D GIS model of the ancient site of Saqqara, was published in 2020. One of the goals of this fully online work was to make transparent all the data visualization decisions necessary for creating this type of ‘reconstruction’ model. In this presentation, the author will discuss some of the challenges inherent in representing long-occupied archaeological sites like Saqqara as a data visualization and the decisions made to try and represent an ancient site in a new way.

Elaine Sullivan (M.A. and Ph.D. in Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Johns Hopkins University) is an Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Sullivan is an Egyptologist and a Digital Humanist whose work focuses on applying new technologies to ancient cultural materials. Her born-digital publication, Constructing the Sacred (Stanford University Press), utilizes a geo-temporal 3D model of the necropolis of Saqqara (near modern Cairo) to investigate questions of ritual landscape at the site. She served as the project coordinator of the Digital Karnak Project, a multi-phased 3D virtual reality model of the famous ancient Egyptian temple complex of Karnak. Her archaeological work in Egypt includes five seasons of excavation with Johns Hopkins University at the temple of the goddess Mut (Luxor), as well as four seasons in the field with a joint UCLA-Rijksuniversiteit Groningen project in the Egyptian Fayum at the Greco-Roman town of Karanis. She has also excavated at sites in Syria, Italy, and Israel.

The talk was co-hosted by the Centre for Digital Humanities Uppsala

A recording of the talk is available online. A version with closed captions can be found in Youtube.

Wednesday October 6th 2021, 13.15-15.

Talk titled "Disciplining data" by Dr. Kathleen Gregory, School of Information Studies, University of Ottawa; Scholarly Communications Lab, Ottawa/Vancouver.

Abstract: Disciplinary domains frame data work and our understanding and support of research data practices. Not only do disciplinary norms shape researchers’ practices of data creation, sharing and reuse, but other actors - repositories, system developers, research evaluators, and researchers of science and scholarly communication - rely on disciplinary classifications to develop tools and services and to make decisions.

In this exploratory talk, I discuss some of the thorny issues which arise when disciplining data, both in terms of determining the disciplines of data and in taming data to fit into existing classification systems and approaches. I look at the ways in which data are disciplined from three different perspectives at varying distances from data, that of researchers, repositories and scholarly communication scholars and infrastructure developers. I consider what disciplinary classifications for data represent and what might be gained and lost in the process of disciplining data.

Kathleen Gregory is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Scholarly Communications Lab at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Kathleen holds a MSc in Library and Information Science (Drexel University) and a PhD in Science & Technology Studies from Maastricht University. Her research focuses on scholarly communication and data practices, in particular on how people manage, communicate, understand and use research data in academia and public life.

Slides and a recording of the talk are available online.

Wednesday September 15th 2021, 13.15-15.

Abstract: We live in a technology driven era where emails, electronic systems and smart assistants are commonplace, and yet despite this there is an abnormally large amount of scientific research that is still recorded on paper. Additionally, even when data and research is captured electronically, it is of limited use unless it is adequately stored, labelled and made available in a machine-readable format. This talk explores some of the challenges and opportunities of digitising scientific research in the 21st century. We will also discuss the affordances of the semantic web, demonstrating where it can be used across the entire scientific research process; noting some lessons learned, and providing some recommendations for going forward in the future.

Dr Samantha Kanza is an Enterprise Fellow at the University of Southampton, and she coordinates the AI 4 Scientific Discovery Network and works on a number of different research projects. Her background is in Computer Science and her PhD focused on Semantic Tagging of Scientific Documents and Electronic Lab Notebooks. Samantha works in the interdisciplinary research area of applying computer science techniques to the scientific domain, specifically through the use of semantic web technologies and artificial intelligence. Her research includes looking at electronic lab notebooks and smart laboratories, to improve the digitization and knowledge management of the scientific record using semantic web technologies.

Dr Nicola Knight is an Enterprise Research Fellow at the University of Southampton working on the Physical Sciences Data-Science Service (PSDS). She completed her Masters of Chemistry (MChem) at the University of Southampton before undertaking a PhD in Chemistry under the supervision of Professor Jeremy Frey. Her PhD focused on the interface between Chemistry and Computing with research in chemical modelling, remote experiments and the implementation of IoT technology in scientific research. Nicola’s current research interests are in the use of computing in scientific labs and notetaking with particular interest in IoT technologies and streamlining the research process.

The talk is co-hosted by CAPTURE, the Department of ALM and the Centre for Digital Humanities Uppsala.

Recording of the talk is available online.

Tuesday March 23 at 2.15-4.00 pm CET

Data are an essential and foundational part of the research process – without good data, we can’t make good decisions, and the conclusions derived from our results won’t stand up to scrutiny. Research data is getting increasingly complicated and large, so we need incentives and structures to share and publish data in order to ensure the reproducibility and verifiability of the scientific record. This talk will give an overview of data publishing from the point of view of the presenter, who started research life as a data creator, then became a data manager, and is now an academic editor.

Dr Sarah Callaghan is Editor-in-Chief of Patterns, a journal devoted to sharing data science solutions across domain boundaries.

The talk is co-hosted by CAPTURE, the Department of ALM Research Seminar and the Centre for Digital Humanities Uppsala.

Recording of the talk is available online.