Thu, Jun 17

Shack Hackney will present “Data Context and Structure within Unicode and the Standardization of Digital Character-Encoding”

The infrastructures that we use to navigate the world often become invisible as they become indispensable. However, critical examination of information systems is necessary to understand their implicit biases, and the ways that they invite some types of engagement, and restrict others. Structures of power continue to be replicated in the ways that technologies are deployed in our lives, and the inability to access and assess the standards which make digital communication possible risks the uncritical perpetuation of those power structures. The moments of rupture, when an established system takes on a new facet with unintended consequences, can be an important moment of visibility, where we are able to reveal the ideological position of its creators, and the ways that its users adapt their own behaviors to it, or push back against its uncomfortable constraints. The introduction of emojis to the Unicode Standard, and their widespread adoption over the decade from 2006-2017 is one such moment of transition.

In this talk, I will discuss the data sources for my dissertation project on the Unicode Standard, my justification for the use of those sources, and the methods for gathering, cleaning, and presenting that data in service of my research questions.

S.E. “Shack” Hackney is a PhD candidate in Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Computing and Information. They received their MSLIS with Advanced Certificate in Digital Humanities from Pratt Institute’s School of Information in 2016, and have worked with their advisor at Pitt, Dr. Alison Langmead, on grants from the Getty and the Mellon Foundations to expand the knowledge pool and engage in community teaching and learning about digital methods in the humanities. Their research focuses on digital infrastructure systems, particularly within the realm of digital character-encoding standards, and the ways that knowledge organization systems create physical and virtual spaces that privilege certain bodies and experiences over others.