Difficult to Know If You Can Rely on Or Use Your Data? Look for Paradata to Understand Better

Author
Isto Huvila
Abstract
These days, everything from the every day choices we make to major scientific discoveries is increasingly relying on data. But how often do we stop and ask: Can we trust this data? How was it created? Who has changed it and how? Why should—-or should not—-we rely on it?
Year of Publication
2024
Journal
Information Matters
Volume
4
Start Page
12
Date Published
dec
URL
https://informationmatters.org/2021/12/much-of-information-is-not-really-that-ready-to-use/
DOI
10.2139/ssrn.5059913
Taxonomy terms
paradata
CAPTURE
Keywords
Difficult to Know If You Can Rely on Or Use Your Data? Look for Paradata to Understand Better
Isto Huvila
SSRN

Latest Publications

Documenting AI Use in Humanities Research
Huvila, I. (2025). Documenting AI Use in Humanities Research. In H. Verhagen, S. Tienken, A. Widholm, M. Fridlund, M. Nermo, & A. Blåder (Eds.), Huminfra 2025 (pp. 57–62). Stockholm: Stockholm University.
Letting AI Loose in an Archive: Technology to Manage or to Manage With
Huvila, I. (2025). Letting AI Loose in an Archive: Technology to Manage or to Manage With. Archiv, Theorie & Praxis, 75, 12–15.
Researchers Data Processing Descriptions–Understanding Paradata Creation Practices and Their Underpinning Instrumentalities
Huvila, I., Andersson, L., & Sköld, O. (2025). Researchers Data Processing Descriptions–Understanding Paradata Creation Practices and Their Underpinning Instrumentalities. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 76(11), 1570–1590. http://doi.org/10.1002/asi.70003 (Original work published 2026)
Paradata: Documenting Data Creation, Curation and Use
Huvila, I., Andersson, L., Friberg, Z., Liu, Y.-H., & Sköld, O. (2025). Paradata: Documenting Data Creation, Curation and Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://doi.org/10.1017/9781009366564
Functions of Paradata in Data Papers
Ekman, S., Sköld, O., & Huvila, I. (2025). Functions of Paradata in Data Papers. Journal of Documentation, 81(7), 253–272. http://doi.org/10.1108/JD-11-2024-0293 (Original work published 2026)

Latest toots

Isto Huvila

(nĂ© Isto Vatanen)  
Professor in  
Information Studies  
Department of ALM  
Uppsala University

Docent (adjunct professor) in information management  
Information studies  
Ă…bo Akademi University

Isto Huvila is working on management and organisation of what we know and how we know in contexts ranging from social media to more traditional arenas of learning and working. My special areas of expertise are organisational information, social media, health, archives, libraries, museums and cultural heritage.

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