Automating the Detection of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in Japanese-American WWII Incarceration Camp Records

We describe computational treatments of archival collections through a case study involving World War II Japanese-American Incarceration Camps. We focus on automating the detection of personally identifiable information or PII. The paper also discusses the emergence of computational archival science (CAS) and the development of a computational framework for library and archival education. Computational Thinking practices are applied to Archival Science practices. These include: (1) data creation, manipulation, analysis, and visualization (2) designing and constructing computational models, and (3) computer programming, developing modular computational solutions, and troubleshooting and debugging. We conclude with PII algorithm accuracy, transparency, and performance considerations and future developments.