News, views, & tips to do data science in byte-sized drabbles about my daily life as a data professional.
Behind the Scenes: My Research Was Featured in Library of Congress PCC Report
My “Searching for Paumanok” research was cited in the Library of Congress Program for Cooperative Cataloging April 10, 2025 Final Report on Metadata Related to Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. For those that don’t work in/with GLAMs (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums), the Library of Congress in the USA and its various programs for data labor like the Program for Cooperative Cataloging historically have been viewed as global data standards for data operations, interoperability, and technical standards.
A Big Theme in My Research is Indigenous Socio-Technical Issues in Data
I have a B.A. in American Indian Studies & I've published/given invited talks/worked with tribes around the world. A big part of my career is geared toward this because Indigenous data issues highlight larger systemic data complexities we see in DAM, development, systems, copyright law, taxonomy labor, and more. This is because archives form the basis of society; Indigenous relations (knowledge, data, bodies, materials) can be found globally in all types of archives (e.g. bank records, government documents, foundation archives).
In 2021 I co-authored a research study with my long-time collaborator Kristen Nyitray in Cataloging & Classification Quarterly on Library of Congress Authorities related to Indigenous Long Island: https://lnkd.in/e7sym6NQ. We called it "Searching for Paumanok" in reference to a Walt Whitman 1867 quote about Long Island, New York.
Some key points:
words and terms used to describe, organize, and classify Indigenous peoples/communities/place names weren't really available or accurate in the LC Authorities
existing and omitted terms showed biases based along the lines of recognition politics (e.g. terms existed for federally-recognized tribes) and erasure myths (e.g. there were a lot of localities terms but not peoples suggesting Indigenous peoples don't exist anymore but places do)
LC Authorities got confused about kin networks and historical diaspora; our research explored Lenni Lenapes and Lenape-related peoples words and despite there being seven federally and/or state recognized Lenape peoples, the NAR (Name Authority Record) for Lenapes only recognizes the Delaware Tribe of Indians
Since 2021, we've published a second part of the research in Cataloging & Classification Quarterly on our methods, produced a cataloger "cheat-sheet" for the existing LC Authorities, and gave several talks at conferences/professional groups on this research.
Curated Content: Get Smarter About…Image Metadata
Understanding provenance in images is more important than ever for data workers like digital asset management, archivists, catalogers, taxonomists, photographers, and more. I’ve always been fascinated by how humans design their systems to enforce technical standards. Online images in the past used watermarks for example to enforce copyright or to embedded the originating institution name in the file.
I thought this piece on deepfakes from an archival perspective was an interesting take on how we might deal with preservation when the Internet and the places we work are full of AI-generated images.
I’m Open to Work
My books for 2026 are open. I’m looking for remote freelance/consulting, part-time, and contract work doing database migrations, data assessments, digital projects, development/programming, digital asset management, analytics, narrative design, or data storytelling.
Have a cool project/kind of work not listed here in mind for me? DM me anyway!
Portfolio: https://www.decolfutures.com/
Email me: [email protected]
