The document discusses a digital humanities classroom framework focused on reparative processing, emphasizing critical cataloging and the importance of metadata in archiving materials while addressing systemic oppression. It outlines teaching goals, in-class activities, and challenges faced by students in recognizing power dynamics in historical records. Additionally, it highlights collaboration with various partners and resources for promoting anti-racist practices in digital scholarship.

1. Reparative Processing in the
Digital Humanities Classroom
Mattie Burkert + Kate Thornhill
University of Oregon
Digital Pedagogy Institute 2022

2. Link to these slides:
https://tinyurl.com/dpi-22
Content warning: racist
language
Water acknowledgment
Roadmap:
Institutional contexts
Learning goals
Key concepts
In-class activities
Challenges
Thanks

3. Institutional Contexts
{ your mileage may vary }

4. English 470/570:
Technologies and Texts
25 seats
Project-based learning
experience
Capstone to the Digital
Humanities minor, one of
several interdisciplinary
minors housed in English
DH minor homepage

5. Other
contexts
● DREAM Lab
● Digital Scholarship Services
● Learn-Static
● Sustainability Fellowship for
Community-Engaged
Learning

6. Learning goals
By cataloguing digitized archival materials, students:
● Learned how to describe resources using best practices from
library and information science (Dublin Core, controlled
vocabularies, file naming conventions)
● Learned the importance of metadata for research discovery,
search/retrieval, access, preservation, and usability
● Identified primary sources for their small group digital
storytelling projects
● Situated critical cataloging within a broader anti-oppressive
research praxis

7. Critical
cataloging
Within library and information
science, a set of approaches to
redressing the harm caused by
dominant knowledge
organization systems
Further reading:
Subject guide and bibliography,
Symphony Bruce (American
University)

8. Critical cataloging aims to:
recognize how oppressive structures codified in standard
classification schemes (i.e. Library of Congress Subject Headings)
directly impact the ways people access and see themselves in library
and archive collections; and
mitigate these effects through reparative processing and newly
reimaged descriptive workflows.

10. Class Pre-Reads
Dorothy Berry, “The House Archives Built,” Up//Root (2021)
Digital Public Library of America, “Statement on Potentially
Harmful Content”
Archives for Black Lives home page

11. Dorothy Berry, “The House Archives Built”

12. Dorothy Berry,
“The House
Archives Built”

13. Statement on Potentially Harmful Content
The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) is a portal to millions of
freely available items from thousands of libraries, archives, museums,
and other cultural heritage organizations across the United States.
DPLA contains some content that may be harmful or difficult to view. Our
cultural heritage partners collect materials from history, as well as
artifacts from many cultures and time periods, to preserve and make
available the historical record. As a result, some of the materials
presented here may reflect outdated, biased, offensive, and possibly
violent views and opinions due to pervasive systemic intolerance. In
addition, some cultural heritage institutions collect and preserve
materials relating to violent or graphic events which are preserved for
their historical significance.

14. Focus
Questions
How do power relations and
imbalances shape not only the
history we’re tracing, but also the
archives and technologies
through which we can access it?
How can we try to avoid
reproducing harm?

15. The following
principles and
examples of archives
in need of remediation
come from A4BL’s
Anti-Racist Description
Resources toolkit,
available on GitHub.

16. Voice and Style
“Avoid passive voice
(or passive language
in linked data
predicates) when
describing oppressive
relationships. Use
active voice in order to
embed responsibility
within description.”
Compare:
● “Four Kent State University students were
killed on May 4, 1970, during a clash
between the Ohio National Guard and a
crowd gathered to protest the Vietnam War.”
● “Members of the Ohio National Guard killed
four Kent State University students during a
mass protest against the Vietnam War.”

17. “Use terminology that Black people
use to describe themselves.”

18. “Use ‘enslaved’
or ‘captive’
[person /
woman / man /
child / laborer]
rather than
‘slave’ when
describing
people held in
bondage.”

19. Subjects and Classification
“Consider avoiding LCSH terms if they are
harmful to the people they describe. If you
are uncertain, do research to determine
whether the subject heading is considered
harmful.
“If terms are not used, consider how this
may affect access. Balance access with
language usage thoughtfully.
“Consider working with groups such as the
Cataloging Lab to actively try to change
harmful headings.”

20. Peer Modeling: Remediation in Action
Initial description:
Newspaper article that
discusses the
background of Mattie
Reynolds, who in 1966
became the first black
person to run for Eugene
city office.
Revised description:
Retrospective newspaper article that details the life and activism of Mattie
Reynolds, who in 1966 became the first Black candidate for Eugene city office.

22. Newspaper article including
two pictures, one of a young
african american girl and a
older african american male.
The newspaper shared with
the reader what was going to
be talked about at the forum.
Newspaper article focusing on
young Lillie Reynolds and her
father Sam, two Black
residents of Eugene who talk
about what is at stake for
them in a Lane county forum
intended to discuss the
"Negro problem" in Eugene.
Initial
description:
Revised
description:

23. View of the catalogued item in our class repository

24. Remediation practice (in groups)

25. “Marking history: A memorial would recognize two
homes’ role in the city’s past”
Eugene Register-Guard, September 27, 2015
“Willie Mims discusses his plan to
fundraise to memorialize the homes at
330 & 336 High St. in honor of his
parents, C.B. and Annie Mims, who
purchased the properties in 1948. The
memorial acknowledges the struggle
and subsequent communities formed
by Black people outside Eugene
during a time when they were not
allowed to live in city bounds.”
“Willie Mims shares his
process of raising money for a
memorial for his parents'
home.”

26. Timeline credit: Mario Canul, Lilly Smith, Kendall Wilber

27. Challenge:
Encouraged students to reflect on
continuities between the power
dynamics we encountered and the
history we were studying, and to
incorporate these insights into their
projects
Intellectual property and
licensing negotiations between
UO, grant agencies, and local
partners reflected histories of
mistrust and extraction
How approached:

28. Challenge:
Developed lessons around trust
and collaboration in community
engaged DH and fair use
evaluation
Intellectual property and
licensing negotiations between
UO, grant agencies, and local
partners
How approached:

29. Challenge:
Reflected and iterated on
unsuccessful workflows (for
example, remediated data
dictionary as an interactive form
when spreadsheet proved
overwhelming for students)
COVID disruptions & ongoing
pandemic impacts on learning
How approached:

30. Challenge:
Made cataloguing a group activity
and provided supportive space for
processing anger and discomfort,
making mistakes, and problem-
solving
COVID disruptions & ongoing
pandemic impacts on learning
How approached:

31. Funding Acknowledgments
CollectionBuilder and digital pedagogy support for this project were sponsored
by the a Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the National Endowment
for the Humanities (NEH Award HAA-281018-21). Any views, findings,
conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this Web resource do not
necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Partnership development and environmental justice education for this project
were sponsored by a Sustainability Fellowship for Community-Engaged
Learning from the University of Oregon Office of Sustainability and the Mellon-
funded Pacific Northwest Just Futures Institute for Racial and Climate Justice
(Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Special Initiative 2008-08962).

32. Thanks to our many collaborators…
Beyond Toxics: Lisa Arkin and Arjorie Arberry-Berribeault
Lane County History Museum Archives: Allison Fischer-Olson
UO faculty and staff: Franny Gaede, Gabriele Hayden, Mandy Gettler, Chuck
Williams, Sarah Stoeckl, Kathy Stroud
UO students: Bobbie Adelson, Sammy Albert, Aravind Arunachalam, Natalie Ayala,
Prayerna Babu, Meg Blevens, Noah Brown, Mario Canul, Miya Cohn, Lauryn Cole,
Edin Conway, Eli Cox, Teresa David, Rye Davies, Tyler Fox, Joe Funderburg, Sofia
Gluck, Abby Gregg, Hayden Grow, James Ha, Janelle Harris, Danté Hatcher-
Vasquez, Kiele Head, Olivia Hicks, Dora Jolivet, Ryan Kenney, Kyndall Kirkland,
Haylee Klingler, Whitney Klo, Sophia Marie Labucay, Jamie O’Connell, Grace Oh,
Avery Olson, Catherine Oswalt, Willem Patrick, Sasha Poll, Emma Ramage, Madison
Ridolfi, Charlotte Roder, Brianna Rojas, Allia Service, Lilly Smith, Oliver Smith, Sesilie
Stout, Jack Talbott, Olivia Tong, Ysenia Torres, Sam Walton, Ben Weiss, Kendall
Wilber, Henry Wool, Leo Zhao

33. Thank you!
mburkert@uoregon.edu
kmthorn@uoregon.edu