Humanist-in-the-Loop: Responsible Data Operations and Workforce Development in Libraries, Archives, and Museums

Information and cultural heritage professionals have become increasingly interested in using data science, machine learning, and AI applications in the management of data and operations at libraries, archives, museums. Given the importance of our cultural heritage, the scale of potential positive and negative impacts these data-oriented practices may have for information services is significant. However, implementing these methods has been difficult for libraries, archives, and museums. Several technical, organizational, and social barriers exist. It is not sufficient to train staff to learn new methods or to augment their current, analog information management methods. Instead, we will need workforce development and interprofessional and interdisciplinary collaboration.  

Our Humanist-in-the-Loop project will bring together faculty and staff across several UT schools and collecting institutions to build a workforce development program that will train graduate students for the next wave of early-career professionals from the humanities and information studies. The program will assist them in responsible operations in libraries, archives, and museums where data science, machine learning, and AI is not supported by the current culture.