Abstract
History is written by historians, but who decides what historians see? Who decides what sources are available to them? Archivists play an essential and often overlooked role in the formation of histories, and the ways in which those histories are validified. This thesis attempts to examine how archives choose what they collect, in what format they collect it, and the ways in which born digital items have impacted how collectors approach preserving items for the future. Through three interviews conducted with archival and collections specialists, this project examines the ways in which professionals on the frontline of active collection confront the challenges facing their respective collections: Denise Monbarren, Wooster’s Special Collections Librarian and supervisor to the COVID collection; Heather Shirey and Todd Lawrence, two of the creators of the Saint Paul based Urban Art Mapping project; and Elizabeth Campion, the May 4 Archivist at Kent State University. While all of these collections exist within different sections of the large network of archives all over the world confronting these issues, they all take unique approaches to archiving digital born materials, as well as the responsibility they hold in archiving materials for future use. Archives are limited by the resources available to them and the factors of time and funding, but the collectors who undertake the process of active collection are constantly adapting to meet the needs of today’s researchers, students, communities, and historians. History is built by archivists and historians, and while the names of historians are maintained within the canon of history, the collectors and archivists are often overlooked within the historical record and deserve a history of their own collected alongside the objects they preserve.
Advisor
Pozefsky, Peter
Department
History
Recommended Citation
Chin, Tobin, "Collecting the Collectors: Archives and their Administrators in a Digital World" (2024). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 11161.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/11161
Keywords
Archival, Archive, Coronavirus, Covid, Pandemic, Street Art, Kent State, May 4, Collection
Publication Date
2024
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2024 Tobin Chin
