1. Workshops Outcome
The following are the aims, highlights and outcome slides from the Data Literacy -
What is it and Why does it matter? workshop at Web Science 2015 on Tuesday 30th
June.
Please contact Mark Frank or Johanna Walker {m.t.frank} {j.c.walker} @soton.ac.uk
with any questions.
#dataliteracy #websci15
http://www.dataliteracy.eita.org.br/sample-page/

2. Data Literacy—What is it and why
does it matter?
Organisers:
Mark Frank, Lisa Harris, Johanna Walker (Soton) Alan Tygel, Judie Attard (Bonn)
Aims:
● Convene members of the academic community from multiple disciplines with an interest in data literacy
● Evaluate the state of current research into data literacy – understand which areas have an interest in the
subject and the thrust of their research
● Investigate the potential for a data literacy research agenda
Highlights:
● 4 speakers, 3 organisers, 2 papers presented, 18 attendees
● One of Nigel Shadbolt’s #websci15 tweets from the workshop was the most retweeted of the conference -
22 times by 10.30 on July 1st!

3. Data Literacy: What is it and Why does
it matter? - Papers
http://www.dataliteracy.eita.org.br/sample-page/
● Annika Wolff, Gerd Kortuem and Jose Cavero. Urban Data in the primary classroom:
bringing data literacy to the UK curriculum (Presented)
● Rahul Bhargava and Catherine D’Ignazio. Designing Tools and Activities for Data Literacy
Learners
● Alan Freihof Tygel and Rosana Kirsch. Contributions of Paulo Freire for a critical data
literacy
● Arkaitz Zubiaga and Brian Mac Namee. Knowing What You Don’t Know: Choosing the
Right Chart to Show Data Distributions to Non-Expert Users (Presented)

4. Data Literacy - What is it and Why does
it matter? - Speakers
http://www.dataliteracy.eita.org.br/sample-page/
● Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Southampton University and
President and Founder of the Open Data Institute
● Katelyn Rogers, School of Data.
● James Stewart, Director of Technical Architecture at UK Government Data Services
● Jonathan Gray, Director of Policy and Research at Open Knowledge and Researcher at
the University of London, the University of Amsterdam and Columbia University

5. Data Literacy - Outcomes
We split into groups to start working on the answers to four questions:
● What is Data Literacy
● Why does Data Literacy matter?
● What Data Literacy projects should we work on?
● How do we build a Data Literacy community of practice?

6. What is Data LIteracy?
● Data Literacy is…enabling a community to take advantage of data
● it’s skills, attitudes, enablers, awareness
● it’s an attribute of community (individual can play different roles in different communities)
● it’s contextualised

7. Why does Data Literacy matter?
● Re-frame as why does Data Illiteracy matter? What are the challenges of Data Illiteracy;
breaking down assumptions about that will help us figure out what is important.
● power
● ability to participate

8. What Data Literacy projects should we
work on?
● Collaborative research
● Measuring the impact of DL initiatives in the long term
● What are the essential DL concepts – what needs to be taught – not skills that will be redundant in
20 years
● Individual vs group competencies
● How might organisations assess DL levels amongst their staff?
● What are affordancies?
● Can you improve the quality of data input by getting staff to work with the outputs of data, could
this transfer to other communities, could it make people more excellent

9. How do we build a Data Literacy
community of practice?
● What are the building blocks?
● Why are we doing it and who should be involved?
● Do you build the community and attract the right people or do you get the right people for a
community to form round?
● EDSA have gone through LinkedIn groups which have data in their titles and curated a list
of the most active and largest community groups rather than start again
● ACTION: Attract DL communities rather than start from the bottom – CP’s list of LinkedIn
groups will be on their website
● FB group
● What is role of professional associations and events like this for convening groups?
● Who should we be talking to, who are the stakeholders