Technology in the Public Interest 2022 (1 year)

Technology in the Public Interest

The mission of the grantee organization is to empower people to learn, grow, and contribute to a diverse and better-functioning society by maximizing public access to our shared history, culture, and knowledge. Its vision is a future in which digital technology serves to spread knowledge and unleash creativity so that all of our stories are told. It is a national platform that connects people to the riches held within America’s cultural institutions—photos, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, letters, artwork, government documents and much more. Its core programs include collections aggregation, partnering with cultural heritage institutions to make millions of materials available to all; it's Exchange, providing a library-driven marketplace and platform for libraries to purchase, organize, and deliver e-content to their patrons; and convening and community building that brings together library leaders and practitioners to explore and advance technologies to serve, inform, and empower their communities. The award provides general operating support to it as it operationalizes its Digital Equity Project, including a new initiative focused on addressing algorithmic bias in the data-driven systems that libraries use to retrieve information.