On a Collections as Data Imperative

Libraries support individuals working through the many facets of complexity that constitute the human condition. The collections as data conversation is an extension of this tradition - provision of the means for meaning making. Disposition toward the work is unadorned, grounded by engagement with community need and vested in the challenges and opportunities latent in the traces of human action gathered, described, preserved, and provided access to. Typically, these traces are called collections. What might be gained by thinking of the digital objects that comprise them as data? Within this question lies the potential of a collections as data imperative