Preliminary Conference Agenda

Citizen scientists make valuable contributions to science but need to learn about the data they are working with to be able to perform more advanced tasks. We present a set of design principles for identifying the kinds of background knowledge that are important to support learning at different stages of engagement, drawn from a study of how free/libre open source software developers are guided to create and use documents. Specifically, we suggest that newcomers require help understanding the purpose, form and content of the documents they engage with, while more advanced developers add understanding of information provenance and the boundaries, relevant participants and work processes. We apply those principles in two separate but related studies. In study 1, we analyze the background knowledge presented to volunteers in the Gravity Spy citizen-science project, mapping the resources to the framework and identifying kinds of knowledge that were not initially provided. In study 2, we use the principles proactively to develop design suggestions for Gravity Spy 2.0, which will involve volunteers in analyzing more diverse sources of data. This new project extends the application of the principles by seeking to use them to support understanding of the relationships between documents, not just the documents individually. We conclude by discussing future work, including a planned evaluation of Gravity Spy 2.0 that will provide a further test of the design principles.

Memory organisations need to constantly address the adoption of digital technology to remain relevant in light of recent innovations that constitute the so-called fourth technological revolution. This study aims to expand the understanding of the current adoption of Artificial Intelligence for digital preservation tasks by investigating it through the lenses of the Diffusion of Innovations theory in relation to disruptive innovations. The analysis takes the form of an exploratory qualitative inquiry, performed on the transcripts of four focus groups presenting opinions on specific applications of Artificial Intelligence systems, mostly related to Computer Vision, expressed by professionals engaged in digital preservation. The study results indicate that there is strong interest in adopting these innovations. However, further research and the development of a dialogue among the involved communities of practice are necessary to determine the implications and potential outcomes of this technological advancement in the context of digital preservation.

A participatory geographic information system (GIS) is a process through which disadvantaged groups can access geospatial information technologies and techniques to enhance their capacity to generate, manage, analyze, and communicate different spatial information. Environmental information regarding climate change impacts, natural disasters, access to natural resources, and ecological degradation are significant for nature-dependent disadvantaged groups in developing climate-vulnerable countries, making participatory GIS relevant. These groups can also use such information to claim environmental justice at local, national, and global levels since their marginalization is due to unequal exploitation of ecological resources by more powerful groups. The fisherfolk community in Bangladesh is a nature-dependent disadvantaged, unorganized working group where participatory GIS could be relevant to build an environmental information ecosystem for them to claim environmental justice. However, since fisherfolks lack participation in the policymaking process due to a lack of information, motivation, organization, and digital inclusion impacted by their socio-economic status, participatory GIS may not work without understanding the enabling socio-economic factors. Therefore, this short research paper aims to set a research agenda for participatory action research by exploring the potential of a participatory geographic information system since academic literature has not adequately focused on this issue.