Interstitial Data: Tracing Metadata in Archival Search Systems

Metadata do not merely give explicit information about records in the archive but can also be considered a source of information about the (historical) context in which they are created. This chapter combines the insights of critical data studies and archival studies to formulate a hands-on approach to tracing metadata in archival search systems. The approach, which builds further on Loukissas’s local reading strategies, consists of two distinct phases: an exploration phase to trace and select and an analysis phase to trace and compare. The author concludes that a lot of data necessary to understanding metadata in search systems is hidden—dif ferent forms of what can be considered “interstitial data.”