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How to make small and big histories come together?

A makeshift statement

Susanna Ånäs 4 February 2022 BOWB, CC BY 4.0

Open platforms offer ways to preserve some of the cultural heritage that is overshadowed by the grand histories cherished by established institutions. On the fringe there are many types of heritage: autonomous archives, intangible heritage, endangered languages, family and local history, for example. This presentation and discussion try to chart out the different challenges, opportunities to overcome them, obstacles that prevent realizing them, and seek ways to overcome them.

I am Susanna Ånäs, and I represent AvoinGLAM, an initiative in Finland advocating for Open Access to cultural heritage. We have been active since 2012. I have myself worked for Wikimedia Finland until now, and this year we are going to be able to bring these two traditions together, as we start as an entity funded by the Wikimedia Foundation.

The title of the presentation is How to make small and big histories come together? / Openness and Heritage on the fringes and that reflects the opportunities and obstacles there are in collaborative knowledge creation in cultural heritage and in providing opportunities for making traditions alive and caring for them.

This is a thinking aloud piece, and not everything is well-grounded. I will try to go through it quickly and leave space for discussion.

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Big

Canonized

Neutral?

Preserved

Valued

Dominant

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Small

Private

Contested

Marginal(ized)

Silent/�silenced

Dangerous?

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intangible heritage

endangered languages

family history

local history

traditional knowledge

traditional cultural expressions

oral history

autonomous archives

cosmologies

…

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Private

Markets

Collective

Public sector

Dynamics

domain of consumer services

shirky principle

control of private data

no authority

authority

control

security

no collective responsibility

This picture is to think about where cultural heritage is created and cared for in the contemporary society

The private information is what individuals produce and preserve, such as family history, recipes, hobbies (although also part of collective heritage), but also companies and their historical archives. The private heritage is often considered to be served by consumer or commercial services.

– the markets:

There is great demand for consumer services around cultural heritage: social media, photo sharing, or genealogy services etc. This will of course hold back preserving it by the public sector. These services are not always serving the reuse of data. Here comes the shirky principle: Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution a.k.a Keep researching, over and over again

(The collective)

Much of the other cultural heritage without protection is maintained by the third sector, where there are organizations, communities, and projects involved in often volunteer-based activities to preserve cultural heritage.

(public sector:)

Public sector is the guardian of the canonized history, but it is also the enabler, the executor of the public will. The preservation of private and collective heritage should become more prominently part of public projects.

Recommended read: Mariana Mazzucato: Mission economy https://marianamazzucato.com/books/mission-economy

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Open GLAM – Open Access to cultural heritage

Open data and content can be freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose. – Open Definition by Open Knowledge Foundation

Open license/status • Accessible • Machine readable • Open format

What is in the Public Domain needs to remain in the Public Domain. – Europeana Public domain charter

Open GLAM – Open Access to cultural heritage

Open Access to cultural heritage is a necessary vehicle to make cultural heritage actionable in the present. Cultural heritage institutions should shift their focus from guarding and protecting to facilitating exchange of information. That will allow reviving tradition, and incorporating multifaceted historical understanding in contemporary activities.

OpenGLAM is a global network of professionals in cultural heritage and advocates of Open Access to cultural heritage. It is currently spearheaded by activities in the Creative Commons Open GLAM platform. The GLAM Wiki activities are a vital companion to that, and is carried out as GLAM-Wiki activities in Wikimedia chapters around the world. Anyone may associate with Open GLAM regardless of who carries the baton right now.

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Opening

Protecting

Open Access to cultural heritage

Accumulating knowledge

Personal data

Sensitive cultural data

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Traditional Knowledge / Public domain

Illustrations of Tibetan materia medica, Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-03-30): CC-BY-4.0

Traditional Knowledge / Public domain

Contemporary creations are protected by copyright laws, whereas traditional and indigenous, collective creation is not protected, and they are considered to be in the public domain, without copyright protection.

Wikipedia: Indigenous peoples and local communities have resisted, among other things: the use of traditional symbols and designs as mascots, derivative arts and crafts; the use or modification of traditional songs; the patenting of traditional uses of medicinal plants; and the copyrighting and distribution of traditional stories.

CARE principles: The emphasis on greater data sharing alone creates a tension for Indigenous Peoples who are also asserting greater control over the application and use of Indigenous data and Indigenous Knowledge for collective benefit.

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Cascading protection for sensitive information

Legislation

Legal tools

Best practices

Folklore clause in the copyright law

TK Labels

Open Access policies

CARE principles

GDPR

Labels

RightsStatements

What protection is there then?

Sometimes there is legislation to protect sensitive data, such as the GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU to protect personal infomration, but this not always so, especially in the global context.

There are alternative, less effective means that can be used in the absence of legal protection.

CARE: The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance are people and purpose-oriented, reflecting the crucial role of data in advancing Indigenous innovation and self-determination.The main objectives are: Collective Benefit – Authority to Control – Responsibility – Ethics

Unesco: Therefore copyright is not the answer for either folklore or traditional knowledge. The more the question is studied the more it is clear that what people really want is an omnibus protection for traditional knowledge, embracing many things which may qualify as patent, copyright or bio-diversity taken on their own, but which may not meet the existing rules of intellectual property conventions. What is needed therefore is a flexible, liberal sui generis protection.

A. O. Amegatcher (COSGA)**. “Protection of folklore by copyright – a contradiction in terms* ” Copyright Bulletin Vol. XXXVI, No. 2, 2002, Conclusion. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000127785

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Longevity

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Scale

Server room of BalticServers By BalticServers.com - Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0

On the downside, scale is related to the diminishing earthly resources. We like to think that digital information is immaterial, but the storage of the web consumes vast amounts of energy.

I hate to talk about prioritization or selection in the context of cultural heritage. I think we need to adopt ways to measure the consumption of resources and create savings techniques. Or are we back to the beginning with limiting what is preserved?

The Europeana climate action manifesto tries to address this among Europeana partners.

The image is inspired by the Doughnut model:

Ecological ceiling / Overshoot

Social foundation / Shortfall

Another recommended read:

Kate Raworth: Doughnut Economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist https://doughnuteconomics.org/about-doughnut-economics

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The open ecosystem

accumulation of knowledge

sustainability and longevity

participation and care

accessible technology

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