Being literate in data or practices: how paradata functions in the context of literacy

Introduction. Datafication of information practices underlines the importance of better understanding of data literacy and documentation. Framing data literacy as a sociocultural information practice, we draw from its conceptual affinities with the notion paradata to advance the understanding what it takes to be(come) literate, and how paradata functions in the context of literacy. Method. Theoretical discussion draws from an interviews with (N=) 33 professionals working with archaeological data. Analysis. Interview transcripts were analysed using a method based on the constant comparative method and close reading. Results. Four facets of being literate with archaeological data were identified: information making literacy, syntactic literacy, information taking literacy and interpretative literacy. Becoming literate is influenced by the parallel (in)adequacy of individual facets. Literacies’ social being-in-making makes becoming literate hard. Finally, paradata potentially 1) contributes developing and enacting individual literacies, 2) catalysing and impeding convergence of literacies, and 3) enacting the contexts of literacies. Conclusions. Paradata, as a concept referring to practice-related meta-information, provides means to operationalise what can be known and communicated about practices as a contextual constituent of literacy. Paradata helps in becoming and staying literate. Finally, literacy can be a question of competent practice with paradata rather than mastering the data itself.