NATHPO's mission is to provide guidance to preservation officials, elected representatives, and the public about national historic preservation legislation, policies, and regulations. We promote Tribal sovereignty, develop partnerships, and advocate for Tribes in governmental activities on preservation issues.
Boarding School
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Reconstruction
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Fair-Care
NATHPO is a proud participant in the FAIR+CARE Cultural Heritage Network.
The FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) Data Principles (Wilkinson et al. 2016) establish foundational guidelines for making data more open and usable in scientific and governmental contexts. The CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, and Ethics) Principles for Indigenous Data Governance (Carroll et al. 2020) prioritize the ethical stewardship of data, particularly in relation to the histories, landscapes, and cultures of Indigenous and descendant communities. This project aims to explore and develop data management practices within the cultural heritage sector that can reconcile and integrate these two distinct approaches to data governance.
This project integrates FAIR and CARE principles to demonstrate that ethical data curation must be inclusive and resist serving narrow technocratic interests. By adapting Open Science and Open Government practices to cultural heritage contexts, it promotes transparency while embracing diverse perspectives. The synergy of FAIR and CARE highlights that responsible data reuse is central to conservation, education, and research.
Project Goals
This project seeks to bridge the social and technical divides between FAIR (open, standardized) and CARE (contextual, community-centered) data governance principles. By developing ethical best practices and digital governance models that integrate FAIR+CARE approaches, the initiative aims to enhance both the quantity and quality of reusable cultural heritage data. It also strives to minimize risks of harm and foster inclusive participation and benefit-sharing with Indigenous and descendant communities.
Research Questions
To achieve these goals, the project brings together a diverse network of cultural heritage professionals and policymakers to collaboratively define, demonstrate, and promote FAIR+CARE practices across the sector. The network will address three core research questions:
- Institutional Integration: How can we embed FAIR+CARE practices in institutional settings, including libraries, museums, digital repositories, and publishers, as well as federal, state, and Tribal agencies that manage cultural heritage?
- Cross-sector Alignment: How can data management practices better align interests across different sectors of cultural heritage. Specifically, how can FAIR be adapted to incorporate CARE needs, such as representing Indigenous concepts and worldviews (expressed in Indigenous languages, ontologies, and controlled vocabularies) so they meet Indigenous educational, cultural, and other goals?
- Equitable Implementation: What guides, protocols, training, capacity building, and metadata are needed to make the benefits of FAIR+CARE data more equitably distributed while reducing risks of harmful appropriation?
The project will analyze current policies, conduct surveys, and develop case studies to assess existing practices and identify needs. These findings will inform practical, ethically grounded strategies for curating and reusing cultural heritage data. Outreach efforts will support the dissemination and sustainability of these outcomes. A network of approximately 45 participants, organized into working groups aligned with each research question, will lay the foundation for a long-term collaborative effort to advance FAIR+CARE principles throughout the cultural heritage domain.
Outcomes
This initiative will establish a diverse network of individuals and institutions to advance FAIR+CARE data practices. Key deliverables include training resources, a self-assessment tool, and an open-source reference implementation to support adoption. Dissemination will occur through public presentations, scholarly publications, professional newsletters, and a dedicated website. The project aims to enhance the quality and accessibility of cultural heritage data, reduce risks of misuse, and foster sustainable improvements in data curation. A long-term coalition will be formed to maintain and evolve these tools and models in response to emerging needs.
Additional information on this project can be found at: Advancing FAIR+CARE Practices in Cultural Heritage - The Alexandria Archive Institute