2024/12/17 by Kellee E. Warren · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Computer Science · #Conservation Techniques and Studies #Digital and Traditional Archives Management #Research Data Management Practices
paper · pdf · doi:10.33137/cjal-rcbu.v10.43094
openalex publication_date 2024/12/17 · openalex created_date 2024/12/18 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This exploratory essay foregrounds the extraction and enclosure cycle between education technology (ed-tech) vendors and public academic special collections and archives departments. Education technology vendors, subsidiaries of academic publishers, often approach special collections libraries and archives with offers to digitize collections through services that McLaughlin et al. (2023) describe as open wrapping or freemium proposals. Since there seems to be no turning back, information professionals in public academic settings should, among other solutions, encourage decision-makers to negotiate preservation and conservation of physical archival materials. Drawing from the literature on commons practices, this essay introduces the concept of reciprocal relations to agreements between cultural heritage institutions and ed-tech companies. A reciprocal approach would disrupt the extraction and enclosure cycle and highlights the professional’s role as a steward of cultural heritage collections with an understanding that digitization is not preservation. Further, it would compel private sector companies to invest in the public sector instead of simply extracting public resources for profit.