ANTH 2240: Digital Archives (Yard)

What is a digital archive?

• A repository of digital copies of physical items from an archive
• A repository of born-digital items 
• A digital copy of a physical item is made either through scanning, photography, or other digitization methods
• Data about the physical item and the digital copy (also known as "metadata") is then created in the repository to add context and meaning to the item for future use

Why is digital archiving important?

• Increases the visibility and symbolic circulation of historically marginalized source materials to enable research inquiry and the emergence of new historical narratives
• Increases the accessibility of otherwise hidden archival materials by making them available digitally and online
• Preserves access to temporal and ephemeral archival materials and historical media that may physically deteriorate over time

Ethics and Digital Archives

The digitization of historical records should be considered within the context of consent, privacy, and collaboration. When digitizing and accessing marginalized historical materials, it is important to consider the following:

• Is digital access to this material collectively desired by the community or individual that created it?
• Does the metadata for the digital object reflect the preferred terminology of the community or individual it represents? If not, how can we co-create and remediate the metadata so it is more equitable and representative?
• Did the creator or subject of this ephemera, artifact, or object consent to public dissemination and exposure?

These are all implications that your digital archive sources likely considered (review the policy statements on their websites to confirm) -- and are mentioned here as important to keep in mind whenever embarking on a new digitization project.

It is important to state the copyright status of your digital objects and any restrictions on use!

For this project, we will be working with digital materials from open-access archives. Open-access archives are made freely available on the web for scholarly and research purposes. However; this does not mean every item is free to copy and redistribute as you please. There may be materials in an open-access digital repository that have limitations on the purposes of use.

We have vetted to the best of our ability a selection of digital archives that are permitted for educational use (see box "Open Access Archives" on left navigation). However, when picking items for your digital archival collection please check the following:

• Does the digital repository have a copyright policy statement, and if so, does it allow for "fair dealing" "fair use" or "educational use"? 
  • Note: if the archive requires you to ask for permission to use an image/sound clip/video, then you must do so
• Does the item in the digital archive have any stated copyright restrictions?
  • An example of a rights statement on an item:
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• It is important to retain this copyright statement in the metadata for the item in the "Rights" field of your digital exhibition. See "Metadata Guidelines" for more information

When in doubt, do not fret! During our workshop session, a Librarian or Archivist will review your items to ensure copyright compliance.