ARTchivist's Notebook: Security through obscurity
"Security through obscurity"
Truly inclusive metadata sometimes involves not describing at all.
Some of you know that I used to work as a web designer. Back in the early days of the Internet, we sometimes used the phrase “security through obscurity” when we wanted to control access to a web page but didn’t have the capacity to put it behind a login. Instead, we put it on a page that wasn’t linked anywhere else and then sent people the link directly. The idea was that by making the content harder to access, we provided a measure of control. Of course, this strategy was naïve, and the Internet works differently now, but this concept came to mind during a recent client workshop.
The client had a collection that included propaganda materials created in the wake of a human rights atrocity. These materials were created to convince people that what had happened was not so bad and included some photographs of children playing. We discussed whether these images should be tagged with terms like “play,” or “playing” when the context of their creation was not playful or joyous at all, and the children’s apparent happiness actually obscured a brutal reality.
We decided it was more important for people to see these images in the context of the collection as a whole—to understand them as propaganda—than for people to access them out of context, as examples of happy children. In this case, it might be better to let a search engine find the collection record only, and to let researchers access the images in context, than to provide direct access to individual images. The respectful and appropriate thing to do was to choose “obscurity,” or not to describe.
This decision also illustrates the difference between equality and equity. Equality means every record gets the same amount of time and attention, but treating the photographs in the example above like every other record would have been a disservice. Equitable treatment, on the other hand, means ensuring that every record is described so that people understand it in its proper and accurate context. We often think that providing respectful and accurate description takes more time and effort than MPLP (more product, less process) cataloging, but in this case, it actually meant spending less.
You don’t have to describe everything to the same degree. Creating inclusive metadata doesn’t mean you have to treat every collection, every series, every item with the same degree of detail. Before you start processing a collection, take the time to come up with a processing plan that assesses the needs of the collection, anticipates its potential uses and audiences, and specifies the level of detail that best serves each part of the collection. In the same way that equality is not the same as equity, it’s important to tailor your metadata to represent the content and context of your collections in a way that is historically accurate and promotes a deeper understanding of events.
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Resource tip:
I have found the University of California’s Guidelines for Efficient Archival Processing in the University of California Libraries, particularly Chapter 3 on levels of processing, very helpful in formulating a template for a processing plan.
Upcoming events:
Inclusive Metadata: Why it’s important and how to assess your subject headings for Lyrasis, October 4, 2023 at 2-3pm ET, $50.00 / $75.00.
Who’s Online? Assessing Participation of Community-Centered Archives in Digital Aggregators and Exhibitions, with Christine Kim and Madelynn Dickerson in person at DLF Forum, November 13, 1:15pm - 2:00pm CT.
Image caption:
Top: Light Well in a hallway aligned with the path of the sun on the winter solstice at the Enoura Observatory, Odawara Art Foundation, 2023. Photo by Sharon Mizota.
Thanks for reading! If you have any comments or questions about this issue, please feel free to get in touch. Or follow me on LinkedIn.
ARTchivist's Notebook is an occasional newsletter musing on the intersection of archives, art, and social justice by me, Sharon Mizota, inclusive metadata consultant and art writer.
I help museums, archives, libraries, and media organizations transform and share their metadata to achieve greater diversity, equity, and inclusion. Contact me to discuss your metadata project today.