Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Society of American Archivists Research Forum July 25, 2017 Eliot Wilczek The MITRE Corporation Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited. Case Number 17-2581 ©2017 The MITRE Corporation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The author’s affiliation with The MITRE Corporation is provided for identification purposes only, and is not intended to convey or imply MITRE’s concurrence with, or support for, the positions, opinions, or viewpoints expressed by the author.

Definition Wicked Problems and the Literature Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources Definition Societal problems that are complex, vitally important, ill-defined, and depend on contested political judgment for resolution. (Rittel and Webber, 1973)

Foundational & Conceptual Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources Foundational & Conceptual 10 characteristics (Rittel & Webber) No definitive definition. No stopping rule. Solutions not true-or-false, but good-or-bad. No immediate or ultimate test of solutions. Every attempt at solution has consequences. No enumerable set of potential solutions Every problem essentially unique. Every problem a symptom of another problem. The choice of explanation determines the nature of the problem’s resolution. The planner has no right to be wrong.

Foundational & Conceptual Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources Foundational & Conceptual 10 characteristics (Rittel & Webber) Wicked problems at center of design (Cross & Buchanan) Ill-Structured Problems (Simon) Messes (Ackoff) Swamps (Schön) Wicked Issues (Chapman et al.) Super Wicked Problems (Levin et al.) Grand Challenges (Gates Foundation)

X is a Wicked Problem Wicked Problems and the Literature Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources X is a Wicked Problem Urban Planning Health Care Emergency Response Cyber Security Education Corruption Economic Gender Equality Public Drinking Heroin Addiction Aboriginal Land Rights NIMBYism (“Not In My Back Yard”) Land, Water, & Wildlife Management Climate Change Pollution Nuclear energy safety Sustainable agriculture and food security Insurgencies

Methods for Addressing Wicked Problems Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources Methods for Addressing Wicked Problems Interdisciplinary (Polyocular) Research Critical Action Learning General Morphology Analysis Participatory Policy Analysis Problem Structuring Dialogue Mapping Transdisciplinary Imagination Soft Systems Networked Approaches Mixed Methods Research Feminist Pragmatist Methodology Authoritative, Competitive, and Collaborative Coping Strategies

Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources Literature Research data management as a wicked problem (Awre et al, 2015; Cox et al, 2016) Electronic records management as a wicked problem; Cynefin framework (Childs and McLeod, 2013, 2014) “Complex systems records model” exploring recordkeeping practices organizations confronting wicked problems (Chua, 2012)

Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources AERI Grand Challenges How archival and recordkeeping scholarship can help address grand challenges. Identify critical advancements in archival and recordkeeping scholarship needed to make sustainable and impactful contributions to grand challenges.

Libraries and Archives in the Anthropocene: A Colloquium, 2017 Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources Libraries and Archives in the Anthropocene: A Colloquium, 2017 Intersection Libraries & Archives Climate Change

On the Record, All the Time Convenes LIS education Records management Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources On the Record, All the Time Convenes LIS education Records management Law enforcement Civic governance Policymaking communities “define challenges of, and set specific priorities for, the management and preservation of new forms of audiovisual evidence” with a focus on body-worn cameras.

Dimensions of Research Archival practices as wicked problems Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources Dimensions of Research Archival practices as wicked problems Role of archival practice and theory in addressing wicked problems Archival & recordkeeping research informing nature of wicked problems Grand challenges of the archival field

Principles for Research Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources Principles for Research Be Bold Wicked problems are recordkeeping challenges Be Humble Addressing wicked problems takes many communities Be Reflexive Wicked problems force communities to face their limits

Resources Wicked Problems and the Literature Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Resources AERI (Archival Education and Research Initiative) http://aeri.website/ On the Record, All the Time https://is.gseis.ucla.edu/bodycams/ http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may17/becker/05becker.html Libraries and Archives in the Anthropocene http://litwinbooks.com/laac2017colloq.php Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources

Resources Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Towards a Wicked Problems Research Agenda for Archival and Recordkeeping Scholarship Resources Wicked Problems Ackoff, Russell L. Redesigning the Future: A Systems Approach to Societal Problems. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1974. Awre, Chris, et al. “Research Data Management as a ‘Wicked Problem.’” Library Review 64, no. 4/5 (2015): 356–71. Buchanan, Richard. “Wicked Problems in Design Thinking.” Design Issues 8, no. 2 (1992): 5– 21. Childs, Sue, and Julie McLeod. “Tackling the Wicked Problem of ERM: Using the Cynefin Framework as a Lens.” Records Management Journal 23, no. 3 (2013): 191–227. Chua, Yee May. “The Complex System Records Model: Recordkeeping for Wicked Problems.” Masters Thesis, University of California Los Angeles, 2012. Chapman, Jake, Charlie Edwards, and Simon Hampson. Connecting the Dots. London: Demos, 2009. Cox, Andrew M., Stephen Pinfield, and Jennifer Smith. “Moving a Brick Building: UK Libraries Coping with Research Data Management as a ‘wicked’ Problem.” Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 48, no. 1 (2016): 3–17. Cross, Nigel. “Designerly Ways of Knowing.” Design Studies 3, no. 4 (1982): 221–227. Schön, Donald A. Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1988. Levin, Kelly, Benjamin Cashore, Steven Bernstein, and Graeme Auld. “Overcoming the Tragedy of Super Wicked Problems: Constraining Our Future Selves to Ameliorate Global Climate Change.” Policy Sciences 45, no. 2 (2012): 123–52. McLeod, Julie. “Reinventing Archival Methods: Reconceptualising Electronic Records Management as a Wicked Problem.” Archives and Manuscripts 42, no. 2 (2014): 193–96. McLeod, Julie, and Sue Childs. “A Strategic Approach to Making Sense of the ‘wicked’ Problem of ERM.” Records Management Journal 23, no. 2 (2013): 104–35. Rittel, Horst W. J., and Melvin M. Webber. “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning.” Policy Sciences 4 (1973): 155–69. Simon, Herbert A. “The Structure of Ill Structured Problems.” Artificial Intelligence 4, no. 3–4 (1973): 181– 201. Varmus, Harold et al. “Grand Challenges in Global Health,” Science 302, no. 5644 (2003): 398. Wicked Problems and the Literature Archival Examples Research Directions Resources