Contextualizing Map and Geography Library Collections as FAIR Research Data: A Case Study of Historical Landscape Photographs

Abstract

Collection management techniques used in map and geography libraries to describe and provide access to materials ensure researchers can engage with collections as viable sources of research data. Many practitioners create frameworks to market these collections as potential sources of data, whether used alone or alongside other research data. These frameworks bear similarities to the FAIR data movement, where data producers are encouraged to make their data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. I frame the historical landscape photograph collections of the American Geographical Society Library and the United States Geological Survey Library as FAIR research data, offering the potential to engage with trends, concerns, or concepts being explored by geographers. When highlighting the FAIRness of these collections, we have an opportunity to better understand how they may be used as standalone sources of data, as well as alongside other FAIR data sources in scientific research. As another FAIR data source, I use the DataONE Data Catalog to contextualize these photographs alongside present-day datasets from fieldwork in similar landscapes. I encourage map and geography libraries to understand how the FAIRness of their collections enable unique research opportunities, leveraging the momentum surrounding FAIR research data in open science/open research communities.

Keywords:

• American Geographical Society
• United States Geological Survey Library
• historical images
• physical geography
• FAIR
• open data

Acknowledgments

All photographs from the USGGL are considered to be in the U.S. public domain. For further information on the USGS Information Policies and Instructions, refer to the Copyrights and Credits section on this web page: http://www.usgs.gov/laws/info_policies.html. All photographs from the AGSL are credited to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries as the source.

Disclosure statement

There are no conflicts of interest to claim.

Notes

1 https://search.dataone.org/data

2 https://uwm.edu/libraries/agsl/agsldigital/

3 https://library.usgs.gov/photo/

4 When I refer to deforestation in this context, I am speaking towards widespread deforestation of forest lands for purposes including industrial agriculture, and not towards the sustainable Indigenous burning practices were disrupted by colonial policies.

Additional information

Funding

This research was completed within the Data Observation Network for Earth (DataONE) grant, which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), award 1430508, under a cooperative agreement with William Michener as Principal Investigator. The research was also funded with a Spring 2019 AGS Library Research Fellowship Grant.

Notes on contributors

Hannah C. Gunderman

Dr. Hannah C. Gunderman is a Research Data Management Consultant and Faculty Librarian for Carnegie Mellon University Libraries. She received her PhD in Geography in 2018 from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and conducts research primarily in the areas of environmental and cultural geography, research data management, and popular culture.