Soul searching

A lot of debate in 2020 revolved around how knowledge is produced, how we define trusted sources, and which information we privilege with exposure. Museums are reappraising their own histories and asking whether they can challenge the biases they’re built on, while the technology sector is fighting an uphill battle to limit the spread of misinformation. These themes are colliding at Wellcome Collection where we’re building search algorithms for a museum collection. We know that biases can be introduced or amplified in: - The original material in the collection - Descriptions of that material - Algorithms and interfaces built for search We’ve been quietly working on these problems for a while, but now we want to share what we’ve learned, allow people to challenge our assumptions, and hear your perspectives about how knowledge should be accessed. If you have related thoughts, ideas, or experience, we want to hear them.