This presentation was given by Hannah Scates Kettler of the University of Iowa during the joint NISO-NFAIS Virtual Conference held on December 7, 2016.

1. Information Digitization in the
Humanities: The Cultural Assessment
Interest Group
HANNAH SCATES KETTLER
DIGITAL HUMANITIES RESEARCH& INSTRUCTION LIBRARIAN, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

2. What is the Cultural Assessment Group
 DLF Assessment Interest Group subgroup
 Est. 2016
 Participants from Libraries and Museums
 Goals ::
 build an understanding of 'cultural
assessment' for digital collections.
 raise awareness of cultural bias and
institutional “blind spots”
https://wiki.diglib.org/Assessment:Cultural_Assessment

3. Perspective
 Representation from entire process of
digital collection creation
 Hannah => End user
 Developer
 Researcher
 Public / Non-specialist
 Example Project: Migration Is Beautiful

4. Type (AAT)
Postcards
Correspondence
Digital Collection
Mujeres Latinas Digital Collection
Adella Martinez correspondence, 1943
Topical Subject (LCSH)
Mexican Americans
Chronological Subject
1940-1950
1980-1990

13.  Acknowledging a problem
 Ex: Doctor Riddle
 Application to Digital Collections and
Usability
 For whom are we collecting / building
digital collections?
Need for cultural assessment
https://wiki.diglib.org/Assessment:Cultural_Assessment

14. Initial Findings
Findings:
 "Cultural Assessment" is
overwhelming
 Librarians do not have all the
expertise
 Some projects have begun
to address gaps in digital
collections
Solutions:
 Break it down into manageable
foci
 Ask collogues in other areas
 Specifically
 Australia: http://mukurtu.org/
 Canada: Social Inclusion Audit
http://www.siatoolkit.com
 EU: Balanced Value Impact
Model (PDF online - Google it)
https://wiki.diglib.org/Assessment:Cultural_Assessment

15. Where we are now
 Acknowledged the problem
 Outlined areas of potential bias
 Environmental Scan of Library evaluation
 Creating a FAQ / Rubric
https://wiki.diglib.org/Assessment:Cultural_Assessment

16. Future Aims / Work
 Transitioning to focus on metrics
 Publishing Bibliography and FAQ
 Building metric as tool
 Encouraging diverse involvement
https://wiki.diglib.org/Assessment:Cultural_Assessment

17. Recent
Statement
"The University of Iowa Libraries' strategic
plan places a high priority on efforts to
abolish intolerance and cultural invisibility
by promoting understanding and inclusion
through our work." (Nov. 2016)

18. Contact
hannah-s-kettler@uiowa.edu
@hskettler (Twitter)
https://wiki.diglib.org/Assessment:Cultural_Assessment