“Uncertain Archives is an impressive book, both in the sense that it is an extensive and well executed piece of work, and in the sense that it makes an impression on the reader. [ . . . It] provides rich, original, and valuable insights into fundamental issues in society, which at the same time run deep and are changing rapidly.”—Nordic Journal of Library and Information Studies
“Thus, particularly for those engaged in the digital humanities, this keyword glossary offers a significant starting point for further investigation, interrogation, and adaptation of big-data methodologies.”
—David Reamer, University of Tampa; Journal of Business and Technical Communication
“Rehabilitating uncertainty as a framework for learning, Uncertain Archives is a vade mecum not only for academic researchers and media practitioners engaged in critical data or archival studies but also for anyone who is willing to explore the complexities of big data archives at the crossroad between humans and machines.”
—Guilia Taurino, Northeastern University; Information and Culture
“This book comes at a time when both archival practice and the academic discipline of archival studies are accelerating their interrogation of the social and political contexts of archives and records, where questions of inclusion, exclusion, management, use, survival, labour, preservation and impact come into play. The focus on big data in this volume, whilst not always made explicit in relation to archives, enables the reader to critically engage with the uncertainty that technological developments bring with them. Whilst it need not be on every archivist’s shelf, it does need to be readily available in reference libraries and on reading lists as a glossary of vital concerns and central concepts.”
—Jessamy Harvey, Archives and Records
“The volume as a whole will particularly appeal to scholars from across STS, applied data science, digital humanities and many others thinking about and with data across disciplines … For a project aiming not to define or chart a field but to help construct an ‘engaged alliance’ for critical thinking and action around big data, Uncertain Archives makes a valuable contribution.”
—Catriona Gray, LSE Review of Books
“Thylstrup, Agostinho, Ring, D’Ignazio, and Veel’s Uncertain Archives: Critical Keywords for Big Data is in many ways an extraordinary piece of scientific work. Consisting of 640 pages with 61 chapters authored by no less than 73 contributors, the book offers a substantial addition to existing scholarship on the societal consequences of the large scale datafication of modern life. Yet it is not only the sheer size of the book or its well-crafted composition that is remarkable, but also—and more importantly—the rich insights it presents.”
—Maja Bak Herrie, The Nordic Journal of Aesthetics
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