Dear colleagues, 

Please join us on 10 December for the Centre for Data, Culture & Society Annual Lecture which will be given by Dorothy Berry, Digital Curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

 

When: 10 December, 16.00-18.30 GMT

 

Where: Room 2.55, 1 Lauriston Place, The University of Edinburgh and online

 

Title: How Users Imagine Archival Research: JPCA Explore and Digital Curation at the Smithsonian National African American History and Culture Museum

 

Abstract: In 2021, the National Museum of African American History and Culture created a first-of-its-kind position at the Smithsonian Institution: a senior level curator with the wide-ranging portfolio of “digital interpretation.” Filling this position has called for creative education, especially when working with curatorial colleagues with a range of experiences and interests in digital humanities. In the past year, we’ve had a unique opportunity to introduce the possibilities of digital discoveries internally through the JPCA Explore project.

 

The Johnson Publishing Company Archive (JPCA) is the largest collection of 20th century African American publishing materials, including a core collection of over 3 million photographs.  The JPCA was purchased in 2019 by a consortium of funders - the Ford Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution. Since 2022, it has been formally co-stewarded by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and Getty.

 

JPCA Explore is an experimental discovery lens in the larger in-development JPCA digital eco-system.  Based on a hand-selected subset of 3,000 images, Explore uses a bespoke metadata schema to invite users with zero research experience to create their own discovery paths by selecting inter-connected images. Explore was designed with an eye towards how the general public imagines archival discovery-moving from file to file, noticing connections, discovering the unknown. It has also served as an internal education tool, demonstrating  the possibilities of digital humanities work as well as the intensive resources that are required to make those possibilities real.

 

This talk will focus on the development of JPCA Explore and how it reflects wider issues around creating human-scale digital projects that still represent the magnitude of larger collections. By creating an interface with a focus on archival discovery, and at the same time completely ignoring archival hierarchical structures, this project seeks to implement Black Digital Humanities concepts to create new avenues into this archive.

Please note that this will be a hybrid event. For those attending in person, there will be festive refreshments and a chance to network after the event. To book a place, please follow the EventBrite link here. We hope to see you there!

Kind regards,

Jessica

Dr Jessica Witte

Centre for Data, Culture & Society
Edinburgh Futures Institute | The University of Edinburgh 

1 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, EH3 9EF  

  

www.efi.ed.ac.uk 

 

Sign up to our mailing list to stay up to date with events and news 

 

Follow Edinburgh Futures Institute on: 

Instagram | Linkedin | Facebook | Bluesky 

 

The Futures Conversations podcast brings listeners thought-provoking dialogue showcasing the intersections of disciplines, ideas, and possibilities taking place at Edinburgh Futures Institute. Available on all major podcast streaming platforms and on our website. 

 

EFI Intranet on Sharepoint (internal access only) 

 

 

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.