crowdsourcing – Alyssa Arbuckle

On “Crowdsourcing the Humanities: Social Research and Collaboration,” by Geoffrey Rockwell

October 19, 2017 Alyssa Comments 0 Comment

In “Crowdsourcing the Humanities: Social Research and Collaboration,” Geoffrey Rockwell asserts that the point of his chapter “is not to praise collaboration, but to ask how it can be structured through social media for research” (136). He goes on to explore crowdsourcing as an outcome of social media-enabled collaboration in the humanities. Rockwell surveys the arguments for and against digital humanities collaboration, and tends to come down in the middle: he doesn’t believe that collaboration is a “transcendent value” (138),…

On “‘By the People, For the People’: Assessing the Value of Crowdsourced, User-Generated Metadata,” by Christina Manzo et al.

October 19, 2017 Alyssa Comments 0 Comment

In “‘By the People, For the People’: Assessing the Value of Crowdsourced, User-Generated Metadata,” Christina Manzo, Geoff Kaufman, Sukdith Punjashitkul, and Mary Flanagan focus on the classification of digital objects in libraries. They immerse themselves in the debate over which model of classification is superior: a folksonomic model, where users generate metadata as they encounter cultural material, or an institution-imposed classification system. Manzo et al. argue that, in fact, a blended system is best. By bringing together user-generated content with…

On “From Tagging to Theorizing: Deepening Engagement with Cultural Heritage through Crowdsourcing,” by Mia Ridge

October 19, 2017 Alyssa Comments 0 Comment

In “From Tagging to Theorizing: Deepening Engagement with Cultural Heritage through Crowdsourcing,” Mia Ridge discusses crowdsourcing within the context of museums. She considers crowdsourcing to be an extension of volunteer practices, facilitated by technology and at a larger scale. Ridge argues that crowdsourcing should be recognized as a valuable form of public engagement, even if “the crowd” and the project initiators never meet face-to-face. She provides suggestions for effective crowdsourcing projects, including conscientious design that makes use of proper scaffolding…