My research is interdisciplinary, inductive, qualitative and quantitative. I participate in a number of small group, multi-sited collaborations and carry out individual research investigations. Here are some brief descriptions of my current projects, each are in various stages of development and are carried out with different collaborators—technologists, information scientists, historians, archivists, and artists. Some of the themes that cut across my current projects are the representation of data, preservation and loss of digital traces, infrastructures, and the transmission of information through time.
Archiving Machines: From Punch Cards to Platforms
Forthcoming monograph with MIT Press
Archiving Machines explores the intersections between computing technologies and information cultures that have shaped the processes of data archiving across different eras of technological innovation. My forthcoming monograph traces the history of data archiving from punch cards and magnetic tapes to the rise of cloud-based platforms and data silos, illustrating how these information technologies facilitated the control and localization of data across networked infrastructures. Examining the evolution of files, timesharing, and mobile apps, the book interrogates the role that archiving machines play in the creation of data and control over its centralization. Archiving Machines critiques how contemporary archiving practices have contributed to the datafication of society and the platforms that increasingly control access to digital cultural memory. This monograph is set to be published in 2025 by MIT Press.
From Data Archives to Social Science Computing: Tracing the Development of ACM SIGSOC to SIGCHI, 1969-1982
2024 ACM History and Archiving Fellowship
This research project traces the historical evolution of ACM SIGSOC’s contributions to the emerging field of social and behavioral data management during the 1970s and 1980s. By connecting social scientists’ increasing reliance on computing technologies to the development of interdisciplinary approaches, this project sheds light on the role of information work in data stewardship, focusing on how evolving computing infrastructures have impacted the access, preservation, and description of social science data collections. The study will also contribute to the historical understanding of the professionalization of data stewardship and the key shifts in policy and technology that have shaped the responsibilities of data managers. The project is supported by the 2024-2025 ACM History and Archiving Fellowship.
The Palantir Files
https://www.palantirfiles.org/
The Palantir Files is a public interest archive designed for researchers to investigate and document the practices of Palantir Technologies, a major data integration and analysis platform company. Developed in collaboration with Dr. Andrew Iliadis of Temple University, this project offers a critical examination of the social implications of data integration systems within public infrastructure and government services. The archive is made up of thousands of documents—ranging from court records to privacy impact assessments. The archive serves as a resource for understanding the proprietary and often opaque systems employed by data integration firms like Palantir, with a focus on fostering transparency and accountability.
Archiving for the Future: Tracing the Evolution of Data Stewardship in Scientific Research Institutions
This project examines the evolving roles of research data managers, data archivists, and data librarians within the context of AI-driven data management practices in scientific research institutions. As recent federal initiatives in AI research increase reliance on machine-readable data and data provenance mechanisms, this project explores how data stewardship practices have developed historically and what challenges lie ahead for information professionals tasked with managing and maintaining these systems. Interviewing research data managers across the US, the study aims to provide insights that will help train the next generation of responsible data stewards, with a focus on preparing them for the growing demands of AI-enabled research and science policy. In 2024-2025 this project is supported by the Governor Bill Daniel Professorship in Archival Enterprise, a fellowship from the iSchool.
If you would like more information about my work, a quote, or pre-prints related to these projects, please email me.
