About paradata
Paradata is a relatively new term that refers to how data is collected, used, reused, adapted, and shared. Unlike metadata, which describes a resource, paradata captures user activity and therefore serves as a separate layer of information. It can be seen as an important building block of open research practice by structuring information about the research process.
Program (tentative)
| Thursday 22 May 2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 10:00-11:30 | Welcome and tour of RITMO | RITMO |
| 11:30-12:00 | Lunch | GSH canteen |
| 12:15-13:00 |
Keynote lecture: |
GSH, Auditorium 2 |
| 13:00-14:00 | Panel discussion: How does paradata relate to metadata, documentation, and other things we do? Isto Huvila (Uppsala), Agata Bochynska (UB), Steinar Solheim (KHM), Anna-Maria Christodoulou (RITMO), Matthew Good (UB, moderator) |
GSH, Auditorium 2 |
| 14:00-15:00 | Coffee and data discussion | GSH foyer |
| 18:00- | Dinner | TBD |
| Friday 23 May 2025 | ||
| 09:00-12:00 |
Case study discussions:
|
RITMO v217 |
| 12:00-13:00 | Lunch | |
Keynote lecture: Paradata: documenting and understanding practices and processes
Describing, documenting and understanding how people and machines do things is notoriously difficult. At the same time, understanding social and technical processes and practices and their outcomes, limitations, opportunities, and biases is often critical. A parallel complication, apart from capturing such process information, termed paradata, is that it tends to be highly contextual and specific to particular tasks, individuals, communities and situations. The same applies to the amount and specificity of what must be known. This presentation showcases research and findings from the ERC-funded research project CAPTURE, which has developed an in-depth understanding of how paradata is being created and used and what methods are used for identifying and capturing paradata. Challenges with paradata include how to enable and support the creation of paradata that is sufficient, relevant for its future users, and not too labour-intensive to produce and maintain. Considering the extent to which paradata is coincidental and exists because of the lack of cleaning and standardisation of information, a significant challenge is also how to make and keep it technically manageable, but at the same time rich enough for diverse user needs.
Bio
Isto Huvila is a Professor of Information Studies at the Department of ALM. His research interests include information and knowledge management, information work, knowledge organisation, documentation, and social and participatory information practices. His research contexts range from archaeology and cultural heritage, archives, libraries, and museums to health information and e-health, social media, virtual worlds, and corporate and public organisations.