Creating value of the past through negotiations in the present: balancing professional authority with influence of participants

Abstract

This article investigates how an online forum for a participatory archive project can offer a platform for controlled power-sharing between archivists and participants. Additionally, it explains how participants affect the processes, structures, and end usability of the information resource they are invited to create, with a focus on representability and the ethical responsibility of archivists. This study takes its point of departure in a participatory online transcription project: Begravelser 1861-1912. The influence of participants is studied through observation of the communication between archivists and transcribers in an online discussion forum. Theoretical concepts of maximalist and minimalist participation are used to contextualize levels of user influence. The study uses a framework inspired by Community-based participatory research (CBPR) to analyze the communication. The results show how participants used the forum to gain influence in the project, and how several elements of CBPR-shared influence, mutual development, and mutual use-were manifested in the forum. The conclusion is that using a CBPR approach in participatory projects can produce synergetic effects of increased knowledge and enhanced archival responsibility in conjunction with sustainable participatory engagement.

Advocating for a more active role for the user in LIS participatory research: a scoping literature review

“…(2020) developed a model of roles and knowledge work in participatory ICT design. Like Jansson (2020), this study calls for further research around the user's role in participatory design. The generated model highlights situated and embodied knowledge in the design process and suggests consideration of social and technical factors involved in all facets of design roles and knowledge work.…”

“…While work applying Indigenous methodologies and addressing decolonial perspectives is arguably both more inclusive and more cognizant of the power structures within academia that may exclude and/or objectify the user, unfortunately, such research is often niche, rather than mainstream. Further research has also been called for around the relationships between institutions and their users (Jansson, 2020). This was apparent in a study (Simons et al. )…”

“…In addressing the blurring of roles between designers and users, the power differences involved in information communication technology (ICT) design processes and the possibilities for better integration of marginalized groups in such processes, Simons et al (2020) developed a model of roles and knowledge work in participatory ICT design. Like Jansson (2020), this study calls for further research around the user's role in participatory design. The generated model highlights situated and embodied knowledge in the design process and suggests consideration of social and technical factors involved in all facets of design roles and knowledge work.…”

“…While work applying Indigenous methodologies and addressing decolonial perspectives is arguably both more inclusive and more cognizant of the power structures within academia that may exclude and/or objectify the user, unfortunately, such research is often niche, rather than mainstream. Further research has also been called for around the relationships between institutions and their users (Jansson, 2020). This was apparent in a study (Simons et al) where the processes of communication and participation involved in a community archive project were found to raise important issues around participant engagement, influence and the balancing of active user participation with the professional authority of archivists.…”

Challenging the problem of un-democratic participation: from destruction to re-construction of heritage

“…This aligns well with a framing of participation as a continuum with two end-points, one minimalist and one maximalist, where maximalist participation refers to processes through which participants can influence the structures that dictate the conditions of their engagement (Carpentier, 2015). Such processes of influence can manifest as, for example, discussions and negotiations between participants and professionals during the participatory process (see Jansson, 2020). However, the range and complexity of various decisions (concerning, e.g.…”