Identity Creation Through Personal Archiving A study of Cornell Academics at Work Shari Avery, Allan Dafoe, Shay David, Jofish Kaye, Lisa Onaga, Trevor.

Identity Creation Through Personal Archiving

A study of Cornell Academics at Work

Shari Avery, Allan Dafoe, Shay David, Jofish Kaye, Lisa Onaga, Trevor Pinch, Ivan Rosero, Janet Vertesi

Cornell University4 October 2004

Outline1. Introduction & Methods2. Archives--Theory and Practice3. Identity and Tokenism4. (Hyper) Customization5. Structure6. Case: Electronic Identities7. Final Thoughts8. Feedback

Introduction

Sample

46 Interviewees25 Male21 Female

Fields Represented* Natural SciencesSocial SciencesHumanitiesEngineering

*Slight S&TS bias

Levels of Senioritystafftechniciansgrad studentspost docs

research associates

junior professors

senior professorsNobel Laureate

Archives

Access to the Archive

public… private… semi-public…

A science of the archive must include the theory of this institutionalization, that is to say, the theory both of the law which begins by inscribing itself there and of the right which authorizes it.––Derrida (1996) Archive Fever Archives

Institutions of Archives

…this passage can be a site of struggle, occasionally resulting in breach, abortion, or miscarriage of the nascent archive. ––Lynch (1999) History of the Human Sciences v12, n2

Of space and furniture….

Archives

Standardized Configurations?

Archives

Variation in Personal Archiving

… takes place within a set of institutional and material constraints

Archives

Regardless of Location…

Approaching the Personal Archiving Problem

1. Functional

Accumulation of more things than can be accessed immediately

(storage, retrieval, organization)

Archives

Problems with Personal Archiving2. Meaning

What does “archiving” mean to academics?

How do academics ‘solve’ archiving ‘problems’?

How do archiving practices change?

Archives

Problems with Personal Archiving

Archives

3. Identity

What does the individual’s “science of the archive” look like?

What are the rationales behind certain archiving practices?

What role do archives play in the creation and maintenance of identity?

Archive asIndentity

Archive as Identity Kit "…the individual will need an 'identity' kit for the manage-ment of his personal front."

Goffman (1961) Asylums

Archive asIndentity Kit

Identity Kit Components

1. Tokens

2. Selective hyper-development

3. Structure

Tokens meaning

'representations',

not meaning

'insignificant'

Tokens

Tokens of Professional Identity (1)

Your archive is "the things you decide to keep". It can

include filing, books, specimens, cancelled

checks, photographs, art, certificates, and much more.

Tokens

Tokens of Professional Identity (2)

Tokens

Tokens of Identity: Gifts, Honors, Publicity

Tokens

Tokens of Identity: Being a Professional

Tokens

Tokens of Identity: Interfaces to passersby

Tokens

Tokens of Identity: Sentimental attachment

Boxes by subject. Originated pre-digital. Suited to ‘grey papers.’ User will file emails and other digital files in boxes.

Customization

Hyper-Customization

Customization

Functionally Vestigial?

Customization

Bookmarks

Transient. Web-based research.

Customization

Bookmarks

Transient. Web-based research.

Customization

Bookmarks

Transient. Web-based research.

Customization

Bookmarks

Transient. Web-based research.

Customization

All-Digital

One user (M) has little systemic archiving, except with email folders, which is hyper-developed (100+ folders).

Eg.

AAA

Addresses

Advisees

Amazon

….

BBB

… Customization

Email Folders

Structure

Structure or built environment: the underlying format of the archive (as opposed to individual components).

• For Posterity

• Temporality and Trajectory

• Self and Work

• Electronic Only

• (Self-)Preservation

Identity through Structure

Structure

Documenting everything for potential donation to institutional archive.

For Posterity

(Re-)Presenting research through accumulation and preservation of data over time and projects

Sense of trajectory, past & futureStructure

Temporality and Trajectory

“You should have interviewed my brother. He is super-organized.”

Structure

Librarian using of Library of Congress Subject style headings

Self and Work

Paperless offices and the use of computers

Structure

Electronic Only

Structure

(Self-)Preservation

A special interest of ours was the transition from paper to electronic systems

E-identity?

Moving to Electronic Archiving

• While computing may cause some different behavior would people try to maintain the same or similar values?

•What would it mean to build an identity electronically, and what is the role of customization (desktops, screensavers, blogs, personal websites)

• How do people balance identity-construction with their need/desire for privacy

E-identity?

Some general questions for this case:

E-identity?

Some findings

E-identity?

Some findings

• The "desktop" metaphor that tries to mimic an office environment is poor at allowing identity-building.

• The virtual environment doesn't capture the richness of the physical space (e.g. a "coffee spill" on an electronic document?)

• Electronic systems that are designed for efficiency, poorly serve the other needs of a personal archiving system.

• There is lack of standardization and institutional support for the transition, that results in ad hoc solutions and re-invention of wheels

E-identity?

Some conclusions

Final Thoughts

Fin

“I never expected to experience such a strong emotional reaction to the loss of my archive… After we had survived the first chaotic weeks I had a feeling of emptiness and deprivation and I felt very fragile. Working in our new, temporary, office I felt a big empty space behind my back (the place where my books used to be) and I felt cut off from the past and uncertain about the future. It is the first time in my life I experienced such a strong attachment to things. Talking with friends and family I realized that books are an important part of my identity as an academic scholar.”

Final Thoughts

Thank You