Digitizing the dead: understanding ‘Data Hauntings’ to support equitable data work with human remains

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dc.contributor.authorBorsotti, Valeria
dc.contributor.authorBencard, Adam
dc.contributor.authorCiolfi, Luigina
dc.contributor.funderBarbara Nino Carreras, Mace Ojala
dc.date.accessioned2026-03-09T14:50:03Z
dc.date.available2026-03-09T14:50:03Z
dc.date.issued2026-03-04
dc.description© 2026, the Authors.
dc.description.abstractThousands of human remains are stored in museums and collections worldwide. But while their collection, handling and display are increasingly subjected to ethical guidelines and regulations, institutional guidelines and research on their digitization are scarce. This study explores the challenges and opportunities of digitizing human remains, outlining new directions. Based on interviews (n=23) with museum professionals across 14 organizations world-wide, we map: 1) A taxonomy of data work with human remains; 2) Main areas of uncertainties in data work and adaptive strategies currently employed to address them; 3) Examples of ill-fitting digital systems. We introduce the concept of ‘data hauntings’ to highlight the historical, technical and regulatory ghosts lingering in digital systems of contested assets, and the specters of future data circulation. Lastly, we propose a ‘hauntological’ framework for rethinking, (re)designing and maintaining digital systems to enable equitable data work - balancing historical trace-ability, ethical accountability and searchability.en
dc.description.sponsorshipWe thank all participants in this study and the anonymous reviewers for their generous time. The first author also thanks Barbara Nino Carreras, Mace Ojala, and Ken Arnold for their helpful feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript, as well as colleagues at Medical Museion, Denmark - particularly Amalie Suurballe and Karin Tybjerg - and the Human-Centered Computing section at the University of Copenhagen for their feedback and support throughout the research project.
dc.format.extent16
dc.format.extent681270
dc.identifier.authororcidBorsotti, Valeria
dc.identifier.authororcidBencard, Adam
dc.identifier.authororcidCiolfi, Luigina§0000-0003-4637-8239
dc.identifier.citationBorsotti, V, Bencard, A & Ciolfi, L 2026, 'Digitizing the dead: understanding ‘Data Hauntings’ to support equitable data work with human remains', Paper presented at 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Barcelona, Spain, 13/04/26 - 17/04/26 pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791791
dc.identifier.citationconference
dc.identifier.doi10.1145/3772318.3791791
dc.identifier.endpage16
dc.identifier.journaltitle2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
dc.identifier.otherORCID: /0000-0003-4637-8239/work/220111954
dc.identifier.startpage1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18607
dc.identifier.urlhttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105038709672
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightscc_by_nc_nd
dc.subjectFuture Humanities Institute
dc.subjectCMS
dc.subjectData work
dc.subjectDeath
dc.subjectHuman remains
dc.subject[AppliedPsychology]
dc.titleDigitizing the dead: understanding ‘Data Hauntings’ to support equitable data work with human remainsen
dc.typePaper (Peer reviewed)
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