Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Will Our Future Selves Thank Us? An Examination Of Born-Digital Curation Practices At The University Of Kentucky Libraries, Ruth E. Bryan, Sarah Dorpinghaus, Megan M. Mummey, Emily B. Collier, Andrew Mcdonnell

Library Presentations

Cultural heritage resources are increasingly being produced and distributed digitally yet the world of physical materials has not declined. Can you realign current resources to meet future collection needs while at the same time continuing with existing collection needs? Analog-based archival theory and practice is still relevant, but born-digital formats make acquisition, appraisal, resource allocation, collection management, and external relationships much more challenging. These challenges range from monetary and environmental costs to resource allocation to social media technology woes to campus-wide IT relationships.

In this presentation, University of Kentucky archivists share practical tips, tools, and mental frameworks to identify gaps, …

Making Love Easier: Automating Communication For Better Relationship Building For Web Archives, Emily Collier

2024 R&I Day

Starting in Fall of 2023, Ruth Bryan and Emily Collier began researching sustainability for the Web Archiving Program, which led them to building communication channels with the University of Kentucky Office of Public Relations and Marketing Web Content Development group. By tightening this channel, we hope to initiate the archival mindset right at the moment of content creation, as well as limit gaps in our web archives collection as the PR team is directly involved in monitoring sites that go live and expire. Part of this tightening of communication has been finding ways to automate alerts when changes are made …

Preserving Family Artifacts, Ruth E. Bryan

Library Presentations

The Casey County Library is hosting a talk about “Preserving Family Artifacts” on Saturday July 15, 2023 at 11:00 am-Noon. Anyone interested in learning how to care for important family papers, photographs, sound and film recordings, digital information, and books and Bibles are welcome to attend. Ruth E. Bryan, the University Archivist for the University of Kentucky Library’s Special Collections Research Center, will be sharing key steps to keep your family treasures safe for future generations.

Will Our Future Selves Thank Us? An Examination Of Born-Digital Curation Practices At Ukl, Megan M. Mummey, Sarah Dorpinghaus, Ruth Bryan, Emily Collier

Library Presentations

Cultural heritage resources are increasingly being produced and distributed digitally yet the world of physical materials has not declined. Analog-based archival theory and practice is still relevant, but born-digital formats make acquisition, appraisal, resource allocation, collection management, and external relationships much more challenging. During this session, four archivists and librarians from the University of Kentucky Libraries (UKL) will share their current challenges and successes working with different aspects of born-digital stewardship. They will share practical tips, tools, policies, and mental frameworks to help attendees identify gaps, pitfalls, and opportunities in digital stewardship at their own institutions. Sarah Dorpinghaus will provide …

The Archives And You: Why Your Memorabilia Matters, Ruth E. Bryan

Library Presentations

Join Ruth E. Bryan, University Archivist at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center, as she describes what archives are and how your memorabilia can contribute to historical research and scholarship.

A View Into Collaborative Methods Between Minority Organizations And Archivists At The University Of Kentucky, Claudia Elizabeth Benito

Anthropology Presentations

This poster examines the white and male-dominated narrative promoted in the archives. Archivists hold the power to record and contribute to what is included in the archives. The lack of descriptions and identifiers causes archivists to define materials to the best of their ability. A third party is then creating historical notes that may not be complete and the materials lose, to some extent, their meaning and value. This becomes even more problematic when the materials have originated from or highlight minority individuals or groups. Particular language, or lack thereof, can make locating and understanding these materials more difficult for …

Exhibit: Documenting The Presence Of Hispanic And Latinx Students At The University Of Kentucky, Ruth E. Bryan, Taylor Leigh

Library Presentations

From December 6-7, 2022, at the request of Hispanic Studies Department faculty Heather Campbell-Speltz, University Archivist Ruth Bryan and Hispanic Studies Librarian Taylor Leigh presented to students in classes SPA 211 and 208 an exhibit of items from the University Archives in the UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center that document the presence of Hispanic and Latinx students at the University of Kentucky. Starting with the first student from Latin America to graduate from the Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1878 (the precursor to today’s university) and going through some of the activities of the Latino Student Union in 2022, …

Advocating For Higher Wages For Archival Student Workers: Or How To Stop Exploiting Your Students, Megan M. Mummey

Library Presentations

No abstract provided.

Suddenly, Everything's Online! What Do We Do Now?, Ruth E. Bryan

Library Presentations

In this presentation, the author, the University of Kentucky university archivist, outlines a problem with acquiring currently-created university documents and offers some initial solutions. The problem is that key university records of historical and strategic importance are being distributed or published online and not routinely transferred to the archives the way they were in the past. Unless these documents are proactively acquired by the university archives, they are likely to be lost because of the ephemeral nature of the Web. Yet, crawling or otherwise capturing dynamic and changing web platforms adds technological complexity and thus requires additional resources. Given that …

Sustaining Cross-Departmental Programmatic Change For Reparative Description At The University Of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center, Megan M. Mummey

Library Presentations

No abstract provided.

Teaching Undergraduates With Primary Sources 2020 Research Study Report, Jay-Marie Bravent, Deirdre Scaggs, Matthew Strandmark, Danielle Gabbard

Library Reports and White Papers

This report presents the findings of an exploratory examination of the pedagogical practices of social sciences and humanities instructors who teach undergraduates with primary sources at the University of Kentucky (UK). Conducted in December 2019 and January 2020 by a research team from the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center, the study reveals areas of success within existing programs and services, the benefits and drawbacks of teaching with digitized primary sources, as well as inherent pedagogical challenges to overcome. A list of recommendations based on the findings seeks to address these challenges and concludes the report. As part …

Return To Work Planning: Covid-19 Re-Opening And The Uncertain "New Normal", Jay-Marie Bravent

Library Presentations

Jay-Marie Bravent discusses the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center's plans for fall instruction and public services.

History Allies: Helping Protect Your Past: Resources On Managing Archives & Records For Community-Based Organizations, Ruth E. Bryan, Sarah Dorpinghaus, Matthew Strandmark

Library Presentations

Since 2015, the UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center (UK SCRC) has offered “archives basics” workshops for community-based organizations in central Kentucky. These workshops, titled “History Allies: Helping Protect Your Past,” are free and open to the public and often hosted in partnership with area public libraries. Attendees have been from African American churches, LGBTQIA organizations, genealogical groups, museums, and more. Topics include the historical value of organizational records, selecting records for permanent retention, inventorying and storing physical and digital records, providing access to researchers, managing volunteers and volunteer projects, digitization methods and standards, and outreach and exhibits. The workshops …

Appraisal Frameworks Used To Deaccession Part Of A University Faculty Personal Papers Collection: The Case Of The Artist's Scrapbooks, Ruth E. Bryan

Library Presentations

This presentation reflects on an archival deaccessioning situation where the son of a living donor, a member of the faculty at the University of Kentucky, requested the return of the family scrapbooks included in his father's collection. The presentation comprises the story of the deaccession, a definition of "appraisal" in this American archives context, and then an unpacking of the appraisal decision frameworks operating in this case study.

“Come Hell And High Water”: The Role Of Archivists, Historical Myths, And Activism In Communities Facing Repeated Extreme Flooding Events, Jay-Marie Bravent, Kari A. Greenwalt, Shawn Gladden

Library Presentations

While the names Harvey, Sandy, and Katrina ring loudly in the ears of many today – can we still learn valuable lessons in the archives from Diane, Camille, and Agnes? Climate change increasingly contributes to not only more frequent and more violent tropical cyclogenesis, but repeated extreme flooding events caused by unnamed weather systems, supercells, dam failures, and surges from rising oceans. These events have opened questions of survival for communities across the United States, and recent examples show that some communities indeed face pressure to abandon their long-standing ground and forego rebuilding.

In a 2013 article titled “Come Hell …

Breaking Out Of The Box: Transforming Archival Collections And Workflows Through Collaborative Description Projects, Cindy Cline, Libby Hertenstein, Lindy Smith, Rachel Howard, Rebecca Pattillo, Ruth E. Bryan

Library Presentations

Archivists and archival collections can often be siloed into the “special” corner of their parent library: under described, underutilized, and often even unknown. Finding a path out of isolation may require taking a new look at collection management needs and considering new partners in the work. Collaboration with colleagues can result in positive ripple effects that extend beyond the initial project goals. This session will highlight three innovative description projects where archivists partnered with non-archivists to improve access to targeted collections and will detail how their collaborations transformed their archival collections, work structures and relationships, and, ultimately, their users. After …

A Reckless Verisimilitude: The Archive In James Ellroy’S Fiction, Bradley J. Wiles

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

The archive as both plot element and narrative presentation factors significantly into the work of James Ellroy’s novels in the L.A. Quartet and USA Underworld Trilogy series. This article examines the important role of the archive as a source of information and evidence that Ellroy’s characters utilize in their attempts at either maintaining or attacking the status quo. Through these novels, Ellroy conveys the potential power archives wield over the trajectory of history and our understanding of it by demonstrating how the historical record is often shaped in favor of the powerful. Yet even if the archive is a manifestation …

Editors’ Preface And Acknowledgements, Sophonie Bazile, Christine L. Woodward, Zachary Griffith

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

No abstract provided.

The Death Of Professor Jones: Ghosts And Memory In A Small University Archives, Erin Dix

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

The following is a true story of hauntings, literal and figurative, at a small liberal arts college in the Midwest. It is the tale of Haunted Lawrence: a walking tour of the Lawrence University campus featuring historical stories of the ghostly and unexplained, designed and led by staff in the University Archives for the past ten years. Perennially popular with the campus community, the tour has grown to plague the university archivist. This essay is an attempt to exorcise her personal Haunted Lawrence demons.

Queering The Archive: Transforming The Archival Process, Lizeth Zepeda

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

The purpose of this work is to recognize the lack of queer of color lens within the archival profession that determines the appraisal, preservation, and impeding access. Queering the archive transforms the institution with possibilities of inclusivity for social justice and the rewriting of histories. Traditionally, the archival institution has reaffirmed hegemonic power structures by erasing and ignoring histories of marginalized communities. A way to disrupt this is to queer these archival institutions to confront these power dynamics and make interventions against the racist, sexist, classist and heterosexist structures that maintain them. Thus, this paper focuses on how processing through …

Images, Silences, And The Archival Record: An Interview With Michelle Caswell, Michelle Caswell, Harrison Cole, Zachary Griffith

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

Dr. Michelle Caswell is an Associate Professor of Archival Studies in the Department of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she is also an affiliated faculty member with the Department of Asian American Studies and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Her book, Archiving the Unspeakable: Silence, Memory, and the Photographic Record in Cambodia (2014), which explores the role of archives and records in the construction of memory about the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia through a collection of mug shots taken at Tuol Sleng prison, won the 2015 Waldo Grifford Leland award for Best Publication from …

Volume 27: Archives, Sophonie Bazile, Christine L. Woodward, Zachary Griffith

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

The 2017-2018 Editorial Collective is pleased to present the 27th volume of disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory.

Over the past year, we have compiled an exciting collection of interviews, scholarly articles, poetry, and fiction that explore the volume’s central theme: “Archives.” Archives are dynamic constellations of absence and presence, ghosts and ghouls, dust and the digital. As such, discussions of archives stretch into multiple schools of thought and practice, raising questions about power, knowledge, memory, community, and social justice. The works collected here, each one employing its own theoretical and methodological approach to archives, contribute to these important …

Queer Lives In Archives: Intelligibility And Forms Of Memory, Gina Watts

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

Exploring queer archives through a variety of texts and case studies, this paper seeks to understand three primary themes: the departure of traditional archival theory in queer archives, the absence of records and what they might mean for queer history, and a conception of queer time and space contributed to by archival records. Together, these suggest a specific form of intelligibility and memory available to people identifying as queer through the existence of these communal archives, one which reaffirms a history that some were determined to bury and which challenges and expands typical understandings of activism in the archival profession. …

A Word About The Cover Art, Sophonie Bazile, Christine L. Woodward, Zachary Griffith

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

No abstract provided.

Place, Memory, And Archive: An Interview With Karen Till, Karen Till, Emily Kaufman, Christine L. Woodward

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

Dr. Karen Till is Professor of Cultural Geography at Maynooth University, director of the Space & Place Research Collaborative (Ireland), and founding co-Convener of the Mapping Spectral Traces international network of artists, practitioners, and scholars. Till’s 2005 book, The New Berlin: Memory, Politics, Place, explores German memory and modernity, showing how places and spaces exemplify the contradictions and tensions of social memory and national identity. Her current book in progress, Wounded Cities, is based upon geo-ethnographic research in Berlin, Bogotá, Cape Town, Dublin, Minneapolis, and Roanoke. It highlights the significance of placebased memory work and ethical forms of care …

Subjectivity And Methodology In The Arch‘I’Ve, Elizabeth J. Vincelette

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

This article explores methodologies from the fields of library archival science, human geography, composition and rhetoric, and established editorial practices in English studies. By elaborating on the role of a researcher’s subjectivity in archival creation, this work expands the conversation regarding methodology and archives, especially how archives present us with new ways of seeing and making narratives during the editorial decision-making involved in their creation. Writing about my own experience, I privilege the researcher’s point of view with a narrative about my construction of a digital archive. With archival research, we should promote the revelation of methods and methodology to …

Seeking Glimpses: Reflections On Doing Archival Work, Alex Hanson, Stephanie Jones, Thomas Passwater, Noah Wilson

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

This article explores the role of archival research in understanding and generating social histories from the perspectives of four different doctoral students as they reflect on their archival research experiences. We argue that archival research is complex, subjective, contextual, and at times, incomplete. Our various perspectives address ideas of privilege, representation, what it means to remember (or forget), how archives are constituted and reconstituted, and where we can make meaning in archival spaces. This article demonstrates that although archival research has had a presence in Composition and Rhetoric for some time, that presence is continually shifting, and even when embarking …

Decentering Whiteness In The Public Policy Archive, Megan M. Mummey

Library Presentations

No abstract provided.

Streamlining Archives Reference Through Online Task Management, Jay-Marie Bravent, Daniel Weddington

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

Following an organizational shift that flattened the hierarchy and prioritized security, use, and collection management, research services at UK Libraries SCRC continued to face logistical roadblocks to meeting patron reference and research needs. Specifically, SCRC relied on an often chaotic system of listserv streams monitored by 10-15 team members to manage patron interaction and internal communication. This approach left no easily discernible way for the research services team to assign tasks, facilitate collaboration, monitor progress, or derive statistics. This article will discuss how SCRC successfully implemented a streamlined, task management approach to archives reference using freely available online tools.

Archives Of The Southern Sociological Society: A Repository Of Decisions, Events, And People Affecting Sociology In The Southern United States, Ruth E. Bryan, James G. Hougland

Library Presentations

Since 1958, the Archives of the Southern Sociological Society have been housed in the Special Collections Research Center in the University of Kentucky Libraries. The collection includes official minutes, correspondence, newsletters, membership lists, photographs, and other official documents generated by the Society and dating from the Society's founding in 1935 to the present. These records of historical value have been provided by presidents, secretaries, treasurers, committee chairs, executive officers, and other Society officials so that the Archives may be available to scholars who wish to explore the history of the Society and the development of Sociology in the Southern United …