Daily Archives: 17 May 2017

Dr Toby Burrows, Lecture @ WA Branch of Australian Society of Archivists

“Computing the History of Cultural Heritage Collections”, Dr Toby Burrows (Library Manager – Research Publication and Data Services, University of Western Australia)

Date: Tuesday, 30 May 2017
Time: 4:00PM – 6:00 PM
Venue: State Records Office of Western Australia, James Street, Perth
Registrations: Please register through the ASA website to help with planning for this event: https://www.archivists.org.au/events/event/wa-branch-event-presentation-by-dr-toby-burrows
Cost: No charge for ASA members, gold coin donation for others on the day

This presentation will focus on the re-use of data relating to collections in libraries, museums and archives to address research questions in the humanities. Large-scale research into the history and characteristics of cultural heritage materials is heavily dependent on the availability of collections data in appropriate formats. Until recently, this kind of research has been seriously limited by lack of access to suitable data. The speaker will be discussing four major projects. The first two relate to medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, and involve using data from a range of digital and non-digital sources to reconstruct the histories of large numbers of manuscripts, both from the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps and more generally. For the third project, “Collecting the West”, I am working with the British Museum to evaluate their ResearchSpace software, which is designed to integrate heterogeneous collection data into a cultural heritage knowledge graph. The final project is HuNI – the Humanities Networked Infrastructure – which is endeavouring to build a “virtual laboratory” for the humanities by reshaping collections data into semantic information networks.

Toby Burrows’ research interests focus on the history of cultural heritage collections and the use of digital humanities techniques and methodologies. He has held research fellowships at King’s College London, Churchill College Cambridge and the Free University in Amsterdam. Come and hear Toby Burrows before he heads off to UK in June.

Placeless Memories: Digital Constructions of Memory and Identity – Call For Papers

Placeless Memories: Digital Constructions of Memory and Identity
Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past Conference
University of York
14 July, 2017

Conference Website

We invite proposals for 20 minute papers on any aspect of the digital construction of memory and identity, and the use of digital resources as source material for scholars studying these issues. Suggested topics include:

1. What is the nature of digital memories and identities?

  • How are memories and identities shaped online and in peer-to-peer discussion?
  • How do individuals from different backgrounds or ‘groups’ interact with others online, particularly across historically antagonistic or fragile boundaries?
  • How do people draw on – or borrow or appropriate – the memories of others in digital settings?
  • How (and why) do certain historical tropes (such as references to Hitler or Nazism) become commonplace rhetorical tools in online debates?

2. Is ‘online memory’ different from ‘offline memory’

  • To what extent does ‘online memory’ replace, or substitute for, physical access to sites of memory?
  • Are digital discourses particularly raw, spontaneous, and uncritical, as is often supposed?
  • Do cross-cultural dialogues on the Internet strengthen or undermine national and local memories?
  • Are these emerging forms of digital memory more ethical or ‘democratic’, or do they replicate the exclusion of certain groups and memories found in more ‘traditional’ memory forums?

3. How does the researcher approach these digital constructions of memory and use them in their work?

  • How does the researcher use these new sources of knowledge?
  • How do they filter the mass repositories of comments and responses on sites such as YouTube or Facebook?
  • How do they manage, mediate, and process their own reactions to the sometimes highly emotive content?
  • As a source of information, how do these digital dialogues differ from archival sources or ethnographic observation?

Please submit abstracts of 250-300 words to huw.halstead@york.ac.uk by 31 May, 2017.