Re-aligning Archival Practice and Researcher Needs to Improve Data Discovery

Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Scientific archives collect and maintain materials created through research. Anthropological archives document human diversity in the past and present. These data, which result from major private and public investments of time and resources, continue to be relevant to research today. They are used by scientists, citizens, and source community members to help answer questions that range from the communal to the global. However, this material is not being fully utilized because outdated and inappropriate archival descriptive practices make it impossible for researchers to locate and access collections. Despite increasingly robust online databases and search tools, valuable archival data remain hidden, often discovered only by chance. The research project funded by this award, led by Dr. Gabriela Pérez Báez and Dr. Joshua A. Bell (National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution), will address this problem by investigating anthropological needs and data-gathering practices to inform improved standards for archiving anthropological materials. The project will improve understanding of the role of anthropological archives in preserving data, facilitate access and discovery in anthropological archives, and help ensure that this material is both available to and usable by future researchers. The project will be carried out by a post-doctoral fellow based at the Smithsonian Institution's National Anthropological Archives (NAA). The NAA is the nation's largest anthropological archive and is an ideal location to carry out this research. As well as having extensive collections of different media from more than 130 anthropologists relating to some 2,000 cultures from around the globe, the NAA is contacted by hundreds of researchers each year, which provides a large study population. The fellow will be mentored by linguist Pérez Baez and cultural anthropologist Bell, with support from archivist Gina Rappaport. During this three-year project, the research team will survey archive users to determine who they are, how they obtain access to these collections, and what impediments limit their use of collections. Results from this survey will then feed into the implementation of new cataloguing terms and metadata fields that will ensure the discoverability of materials. An initial set of three case studies will be developed to test these cataloguing techniques. Working with scholars and communities who have vested interests in these materials, this work will be refined, and the ethics involved in making this material accessible explored. Because of the increase in "born digital" data, the research team will also explore how to effectively bridge archival digital and analogue gaps. Results will be disseminated through participation in professional conferences, a workshop at the Smithsonian, and publications. This grant will result in: 1) training of new archival leadership, 2) better access to anthropological data, and 3) development of a model that can be applied to anthropological archives throughout the United States. Ultimately, the goal is to facilitate better use of already-collected anthropological materials wherever they are housed, now and in the future.