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Paradata

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2025

Isto Huvila ,
Lisa Andersson ,
Zanna Friberg ,
Ying-Hsang Liu  and
Olle Sköld
Isto Huvila
Affiliation:
Uppsala Universitet, Sweden
Lisa Andersson
Affiliation:
Uppsala Universitet, Sweden
Zanna Friberg
Affiliation:
Uppsala Universitet, Sweden
Ying-Hsang Liu
Affiliation:
Uppsala Universitet, Sweden
Olle Sköld
Affiliation:
Uppsala Universitet, Sweden

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Type
Chapter
Information
Paradata
Documenting Data Creation, Curation and Use
 , pp. i
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This content is Open Access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/cclicenses/

Paradata

To make sense of data and use it effectively, it is essential to know where it comes from and how it has been processed and used. This is the domain of paradata, an emerging interdisciplinary field with wide applications. As digital data rapidly accumulates in repositories worldwide, this comprehensive introductory book, the first of its kind, shows how to make that data accessible and reusable.

In addition to covering basic concepts of paradata, the book supports practice with coverage of methods for generating, documenting, identifying and managing paradata, including formal metadata, narrative descriptions and qualitative and quantitative backtracking. The book also develops a unifying reference model to help readers contextualise the role of paradata within a wider system of knowledge, practices and processes, and provides a vision for the future of the field.

This guide to general principles and practice is ideal for researchers, students and data managers.

This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Isto Huvila is Professor in Information Studies at the Department of ALM at Uppsala University.

Lisa Andersson is a researcher at the Department of ALM at Uppsala University.

Zanna Friberg is a PhD candidate in Information Studies at the Department of ALM at Uppsala University.

Ying-Hsang Liu is a researcher at the Department of ALM at Uppsala University.

Olle Sköld is Senior Lecturer at the Department of ALM and the director of the Master’s Programme in Digital Humanities at Uppsala University.

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