Casemajor, Nathalie 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7901-4859
(2025).
Data cultures: Contested meanings in a public cultural institution
Big Data & Society
, vol. 12
, nº 3.
DOI: 10.1177/20539517251381671.
Résumé
This paper maps the configurations of meanings surrounding data culture and examines its ongoing transformation. Using the National Library and Archives of Quebec (BAnQ) as a case study, it explores the interplay between practices and interpretations of what constitutes data culture within this public cultural institution. Rather than approaching data culture as an entirely new set of dispositions that organizations need to develop, I propose understanding it as a contested field of meanings. This field brings together heterogeneous elements—some grounded in long-established professional practices, others emerging in response to new digital demands—where divergent logics of action and values collide. Rooted in critical data studies, this paper offers empirical insights into the power dynamics within data cultures, conceptualized as complex arrangements of meanings, material apparatuses, and social practices. It identifies key factors that shape data culture at the BAnQ: organizational structures, professional values, institutional goals (such as artifact documentation, public accessibility, and performance optimization), governmental requirements, and data tools and ideologies. The formation and transformation of data culture at the BAnQ appear to be a dynamic process that requires aligning new practices with existing frameworks of meaning, while also exposing tensions and resistance among differing interpretations. From this perspective, data culture emerges as an arena of debate, leading to genuine disagreements over the data practices required to fulfill the BAnQ's broader mission. As the institution navigates the challenges of datafication, its approach to data governance becomes pivotal in balancing public service goals with the imperatives of data innovation.
| Type de document: | Article |
|---|---|
| Mots-clés libres: | data culture; public institution; data governance; library; archive; heritage; meaning; change |
| Centre: | Centre Urbanisation Culture Société |
| Date de dépôt: | 13 avr. 2026 18:07 |
| Dernière modification: | 13 avr. 2026 18:07 |
| URI: | https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/17069 |
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