This week we covered Algorithms, Surveillance, and Data Ethics in our Digital Humanities (DH) Methods course. We read two different articles, Block’s (2020) “Erasure, Misrepresentation and Confusion: Investigating JSTOR Topics on Women’s and Race Histories,” and Boyle’s (2019) “Finding Fault with Foucault: Teaching Surveillance in the Digital Humanities,” as well as Noble’s (2018) book titled Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. Each piece covered a different aspect of how the interactions of technology is ever present and always watching, but also how it plays a role in the continuation of marginalization in modern day society. As likely the youngest person in our DH course, I grew up as platforms like Google really gained traction online. In fact, I grew up only 30 min away from Google headquarters (without traffic of course) and have many friends today who have gone on to careers in tech, or even work at Google itself. Having seen how Google and other search engines have developed over time, I was not really surprised by the content by Noble’s (2018) argument, but her book – and our class discussion today – did made me reflect on how I use google.
As part of our course discussion today, we were asked if we use google at all and how our use of it might affect our academic work. First, I think I should admit that I do use google on the regular. But when I use it for research, I usually am trying to find a particular article – for example if I have a title of an article that I would like to read, I often type it into google to identify all the different online archives that might house it in order to quickly find the one I have access to through MSU. I don’t often have to really dive into a new topic with forensic anthropology, as we are generally expected to know all of the current methodology and theoretical frameworks in order to complete casework in a valid manner. So often times when I am doing research in anthropology, I am directly checking the journals in my field for new publications (e.g., Forensic Anthropology, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Journal of Forensic Sciences, etc.) or am using bibliographies of existing articles or books to find older articles I haven’t read.
Of course this isn’t always true. As part of my dissertation work, I am trying to research the history of skeletal collections in the United States and I have to start somewhere. Search terms like “history of the Terry Collection” only help so much – and I’m positive there is more work out there hidden behind archives that are paying Google to stay at the top of the results page. While I have been trying to search within journals, not all of my resources will likely be journal articles – some may be books or they might be archival documents or hand written journals that are not easily accessible. And so, Google really isn’t going to help me much when it comes down to those harder to find sources. And, I need to make sure to stay vigilant because I am aiming to look at bias in skeletal collections that may source from misrepresentation or different health or socioeconomic profiles of the individuals within them. As I move forward in my project and begin to investigate the histories of those individuals, I have to be wary of how using a search engine like Google might influence was resources I find.
Technology is always watching – that I am sure of based on my targeted ads…. But that doesn’t mean that I should forget the influences that search engines have, especially when it comes to using them for academic purposes. It would be a disservice to provide incorrect or biased work to the public through my research. While there will always be some inherent biases in everything, that doesn’t mean we can’t do different things to mitigate them, such as using reflexive strategies. So, when it comes down to it, Google – I am watching you as much as you are watching me!
