Data Shadows: Knowledge, Openness, and Absence. (March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Leonelli, Sabina; Rappert, Brian; Davies, Gail
• Other Names: Leonelli Sabina guest-editor.; Rappert Brian guest-editor.; Davies Gail guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Science, technology, & human values. Volume 42:Number 2(2017:Mar.)
• Page Start: 191
• Page End: 202
• Publication Date: 2017-03
• Subjects: archiving and collecting practices -- engagement -- intervention -- epistemology -- methodologies -- methods -- representation -- accounting practices; Science -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Technology -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Humanities -- Periodicals; 303.48305
• DOI: 10.1177/0162243916687039
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0162-2439

Abstract

This editorial critically engages with the understanding of openness by attending to how notions of presence and absence come bundled together as part of efforts to make open. This is particularly evident in contemporary discourse around data production, dissemination, and use. We highlight how the preoccupations with making data present can be usefully analyzed and understood by tracing the related concerns around what is missing, unavailable, or invisible ("data shadows"), which unvaryingly but often implicitly accompany debates about data and openness.