NP2020_Questioning the Legitimacy of Data

Abstract

Slides from closing keynote presentation at NISO Plus 2020Description: Data. People talk about data as oil, a natural resource that both fuels opportunity and devastates the planet. People talk about data with reverence, as though if we only had more data, we could solve the world's problems. The hype is profound, especially as the conversation turns to artificial intelligence. Data become legitimate because we collectively believe that those data are sound, valid, fit-for use. This means that there is power in collecting and disseminating the data, but there is also power in interpreting and manipulating the data. The struggle over data's legitimacy says more about our society - and our values - than it says about the data itself.