Classmate James Mitchell, in his recent blog, Socially Constructed Metadata? poked at the nature of metadata creation and raised some interesting ideas about the notion of whether constructed metadata reflects objective realities, or is merely reflective of the conditioning, experiences, and perceptions of its creator. While ostensibly focusing on the technical issues of metadata interoperability, I was far more intrigued by the possible issues presented by the conflicting ideas of metadata creators themselves.
Having been brought up largely in the history field, the question of objective vs. subjective reality and the quest for accurate description of events or objects is one that I am fairly familiar with. Historiography, a standard class for the undergraduate history student, deals with the idea of author bias (i.e. experiences, perspectives, moral and social values, language, etc...), and causes one to question the ability to take sources at face value due to them always being viewed through the lens of a biased observer. Postmodern perspectives will even question our ability to ascertain the "truth" of events with any certainty, as any record of the event is inevitably interpreted through the inherent perspective or bias of the recorder.
Applying these same ideas to the field of metadata, another field of seemingly-objective description in the hands of biased describers, and one can ask the same questions, and ostensibly arrive at some of the same conclusions. Whether one believes in the objectivity or relativity of constructed metadata, however, I think that simply exploring these issues should help us to be aware that we all bring innate preconceptions, prejudices, bias, and perspectives with us to the description table. Understanding that is an important part of overcoming our differing perspectives and striving toward a greater degree of consistency, uniformity, and objectivity in the work that we do.
Amazing post. Bias and perception can definitely influence the metadata that we record. It is an important thing to consider when we ourselves record this data. Good point.
ReplyDeleteSuch an interesting point. Whenever there is human decision-making, there will be the possibility of bias. I wonder if the digital humanities' claims of objectivity take into consideration the possibly subjective approach to metadata creation.
ReplyDeleteObjectivity is a goal that can only be evaluated by someone in the future looking back and evaluating said objectivity claims. Likely, said objectivity reflects the thinking of the age when it was produced, but is that such a bad thing?
ReplyDeleteGreat points to consider. Through a historical lens, sources of information (metadata included) give incredible insight into the values, ideas, and perspectives of the time, as reflected through the creator/observer. And, as you say, evaluation of such notions often require assessment after the fact.
DeleteThough we are unable to adequately assess the objectivity of the data we create, I think it remains an important idea to strive for. We seem to live in a time where the motivations and associations of content creators are used to determine the value of their information more than the content itself. Straddling a line of perceived objectivity feels integral for any degree of intellectual acceptance.