XAVI DANTO
PORTFOLIO
This portfolio was assembled for the fulfillment of my Master of Science in Library and Information Science at Pratt Institute. The following sections exemplify my understanding of information studies, and are meant to articulate my ability to work critically and professionally.
FOUNDATIONS OF LIBRARY & INFORMATION STUDIES
The Lost, The Found, The [CENSORED]: Archival Film and MemoryThis LibGuide, created collaboratively with Jake Gibson and Stefany Merkelbach for INFO 652-01: Reference and Instruction, brings together scholarship and resources on film preservation and memory, with particular focus on lost films, found footage, and censored cinema. The guide primarily serves students and scholars in film and media studies, archival film producers, film archivists, and cinephiles by examining how gaps in film history shape our understanding of the past and how filmmakers use the instability of the medium, playing into obsolescence and challenging political norms, to ultimately probe the modality of the medium in question.
🔗 LibGuide
USER-CENTERED SERVICES
Reference Services for Incarcerated PeopleThis project, also completed for INFO 652-01: Reference and Instruction, involved providing reference services by mail to incarcerated individuals through the New York Public Library Jail and Prison Services program. Over the course of the semester, I responded to three reference requests from patrons incarcerated primarily in New York State, navigating the significant restrictions on information formats and content imposed by the carceral system while providing thorough, accessible, and well-designed reference services.
TECHNOLOGY & RESEARCH
QuickDraw Conversion for GLAM: A Case Study
This digital preservation project, completed for INFO 655-01: Digital Preservation and Curation, addresses the challenge of obsolete file formats in cultural heritage collections. The Tony Smith digital image collection at Paula Cooper Gallery contains extensive documentation of the minimalist sculptor’s early work primarily in QuickDraw format (.pct), a nearly extinct filetype unsupported since Mac OS X updates dating back to 2005. This project assessed best practices for preserving and converting 94 QuickDraw files to accessible formats while maintaining archival integrity and documenting metadata changes throughout the migration process.
🔗 Project Documentation: Presentation Slides and Images
ETHICAL, CREATIVE, & CRITICAL PRACTICE
Linked Data and Sex ArchivesThis assignment, originally developed for INFO 653-02: Knowledge Organization and later reorganized further for a lightning talk at the 2024 Gender and Sexuality in Information Science Colloquium, examines how ethical considerations from sex archives can inform and strengthen linked data principles. The project analyzes published policies from three institutions—the University of Toronto’s Sexual Representation Collection, The Leather Archives and Museum, and The Kinsey Institute—before examining how these organizations address principles from the then-recently published “Ethics in Linked Data Checklist” in a later version. Moreover, the research paper and presentation demonstrates how sex archives’ approaches to consent, privacy, and community protection can inform broader linked data practices. Lastly, as an information professional, I believe that my continued work and interest in this topic reflects my core passions as an ethical practitioner in providing knowledge organization and access in situations where the subject/s in question are politically or legally precarious and prone to persecution without critical measures in place.
🔗 Lightning Talk for GSISC: Presentation Slides