Three questions with… parth!

Our lab is growing! In our Three Questions series, we're profiling each of our members and the amazing work they're doing.

This post introduces parth sarin, researcher at the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, organizer of the Collaborative Metadata (COMET) project, and research affiliate of the Public Knowledge Project.  In this interview, parth shares some of their exciting work, including a recent series of art installations at Stanford!

Q#1 What are you working on at the lab?

I'm working on a few projects — scraping articles from OJS, metadata enrichment and publishing workflows, and potentially even automated full-text JATS production. I love working in the lab! Mostly, I enjoy everyone's creativity and openness to exploring very new approaches to very old problems.

Q#2 Tell us about a recent paper, presentation, or project you're proud of.

I'm fascinated by algorithmic recognition, the internal feelings that people have when they feel labeled — correctly or incorrectly — by an algorithm. Increasingly we are surrounded by algorithms that make judgements about who we are — what kind of media we'd like to consume, whether we deserve a loan, whether we should be targeted in campaigns of deportation and genocide.

Last year, I did a series of art installations at Stanford that tried to capture this with the metaphor of a "digital self" that was related to, but separate from, each of the viewers of the exhibit. It was my first time doing a serious projection mapping exhibition, and I learned a lot!

Q#3 What's the best (or worst) piece of advice you've ever received?

My friend once told me "all deadlines are suggestions — there are pros and cons to meeting them, but we shouldn't treat them as if they're gospel." I think this is good advice, especially for academics, since the academy socializes tardiness (of course, this friend is a professor).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59350/7tmda-59096