Archives with a Purpose
The first group examined a digital archive called Pratinada (https://pratinada.net/), which contains audio files from Southeast Asia that are housed in European collections. This website is maintained by professionals from a few institutions within Europe and is intended for preservation and public access. The content of the website is available in nine different languages, the majority of which are found primarily in Asia and the Asian Diaspora. This is incredibly relevant to the purpose of the collection as many of those whose communities are documented are able to access a part of their history. Despite this and the well-organized nature of the site, there is still a considerable amount of information that is lacking particularly when it comes to documentation of the individuals who were recorded. Most of the audio recordings contained here were collected in the 20th century and as such thorough documentation was not the norm. However, work is being done now that attempts to identify where the sounds are coming from and obtain more context.
The second group looked into The ArQuives (https://arquives.ca/), a Canadian LGBTQ2+ focused archive with materials spanning multiple different mediums. This website, while only available in English, aims to preserve and disseminate materials created by LGBTQ2+ people in Canada. This is a collection that was started by individuals within the community at a time when there was significantly more opposition against queer people. Eventually, these smaller collections were amalgamated into a much larger collection now maintained at the institutional level. The archive continues to grow as materials are donated, with an ever increasing interest in expanding the diversity of the collection and the groups who are represented.
The third group focused on Take Back the Archive (https://takeback.scholarslab.org/), a collection of nearly 2,000 items surrounding the history of sexual violence at the University of Virginia. This website is also only available in English and it serves to document incidences and the culture surrounding sexual violence and its intersections with other aggressions. The archive was created in response to a Rolling Stone article that detailed an account of such violence at the university. Unfortunately, the archive is currently on hold due to funding issues.
The final group explored The Troubles Archive (http://www.troublesarchive.com/), an archive dedicated to the Troubles in Northern Ireland as experienced through artworks and essays. This collection represents the general sentiments, experiences, and responses of people in Northern Ireland during this time. Not every item is publicly available, some are restricted in access or fully redacted for privacy reasons. Nonetheless, this archive exhibits the connection between archival work and curation.
To conclude, Ty also briefly discussed two other archives. Digital Himalaya (https://digitalhimalaya.com/) contains a plethora of information looking at different aspects of Himalayan life. It represents an academic project that is useful for introducing the region to the broader public. The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (https://collections.irshdc.ubc.ca/) is an archive focused on collecting records surrounding these atrocities and centering the stories of Survivors. It is a site that directly engages with trauma and the legacy of yet another abuse against Indigenous people. Finally, Ty answered a question about the ownership of information and how tricky and subjective it can be.
Thank you to Ty for joining us and facilitating this insightful workshop!
- Report by Madeline Elizabeth Kay (Intern @ The Alab, Fall 2024)
OVERVIEW
Archives are present around the world and serve to document people and places throughout time. They can take on many forms such as colonial, social media, institutional, community, and purely digital archives. On September 12, 2024 we were joined by Ty Paradela (they/them) to discuss digital archives and the benefits and drawbacks of such collections. Ty is a public historian, policy analyst, community archivist, and social dramaturge with a PhD in History from the University of British Columbia. Since 2015, they have led the Babaylan Archive Project which seeks to gather, catalog, and digitize primary sources on the LGBTQI+ movement in the Philippines.
We opened with a discussion on the history of archives and ways in which they have been used and abused. While archives have been used for documentation and as a resource for research, there has been a long history of archives being destroyed for a multitude of reasons, from natural disasters to cultural cleansing and colonial power. Today, there has been a concerted effort to digitize collections, for the sake of preservation and increased access, among other reasons.
After this introduction, a considerable amount of time was then spent in small groups, each exploring a different digital archive project. We were looking to answer questions involving general understanding, content, and organization, and explored further categories of interrogation as time allowed. Elements that were prioritized included the focus and purpose of the archive, its creation and reliability, and its accessibility. The types of materials collected, categorization, and ease of navigation were also important factors to consider. After interacting with these websites with such questions in mind, we came back together as a group to share our findings and their implications.