Curated by: Eric Baker, Indiana Mezta, Matthew Mariner
Computer algorithms are ubiquitous in our society. Although algorithms, such as the one used by Google search, may seem objective, there are years of research that prove otherwise. Computer algorithms are developed by humans and reflect the biases and worldviews of the people that developed them; they are often not inclusive of all cultures, identities, languages, and ideas. Biased algorithms can have harmful outcomes. Libraries are not exempt from algorithmic bias. Auraria Library licenses and purchases commercial products that use algorithms for things like relevancy ranking, search result filtering, recommended resources, and more. We acknowledge that biases exist in these systems. These featured resources discuss the societal impact and potential and actual harms of computer algorithms.