National archives’ priorities: an international overview

Cardama, Sara Martínez; Pacios, Ana R.

doi:10.1007/s10502-021-09367-y

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…We use fake text-based archives generated by GPT-2 and original text archives from the National Library of Scotland's (NLS) Broadsides dataset ( ; see Methods for details). Archives are historical documents or records that provide information about a place, people or institution, and shed light on historic events that may have cultural or worldwide interest [ 33 ]. We use archives instead of contemporary news articles or texts for two main reasons: (i) the content of the archives used is from the nineteenth century, and will therefore not be as familiar to our participant sample; and (ii) archives are important as repositories of memory on the national and international level as public cultural institutions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Positive attitudes toward AI positively correlate with their acceptance of AI applications while negative attitudes toward AI negatively correlate to the rate of acceptance of AI applications [28][29][30][31]. Without a more detailed and nuanced understanding of human attitudes toward AI and their impact on behavioural responses toward texts produced by AI, as well as human barriers and motivations for AI acceptance, AI remains simply an invention that is in search of customers [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Value attributed to text-based archives generated by artificial intelligence

2023

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Openly available natural language generation (NLG) algorithms can generate human-like texts across domains. Given their potential, ethical challenges arise such as being used as a tool for misinformation. It is necessary to understand both how these texts are generated from an algorithmic point of view, and how they are evaluated by a general audience. In this study, our aim was to investigate how people react to texts generated algorithmically, whether they are indistinguishable from original/human-generated texts, and the value people assign these texts. Using original text-based archives, and text-based archives generated by artificial intelligence (AI), findings from our preregistered study ( N = 228) revealed that people were more likely to preserve original archives compared with AI-generated archives. Although participants were unable to accurately distinguish between AI-generated and original archives, participants assigned lower value to archives they categorized as AI-generated compared with those they categorized as original. People's judgements of value were also influenced by their attitudes toward AI. These findings provide a richer understanding of how the emergent practice of automated text creation alters the practices of readers and writers, and have implications for how readers' attitudes toward AI affect the use and value of AI-based applications and creations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Value attributed to text-based archives generated by artificial intelligence

2023

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How can we make born-digital and digitised archives more accessible? Identifying obstacles and solutions

Jaillant

2022

Arch Sci

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Access to data is seen as a key priority today. Yet, the vast majority of digital cultural data preserved in archives is inaccessible due to privacy, copyright or technical issues. Emails and other born-digital collections are often uncatalogued, unfindable and unusable. In the case of documents that originated in paper format before being digitised, copyright can be a major obstacle to access. To solve the problem of access to digital archives, cross-disciplinary collaborations are absolutely essential. The big challenges of our time—from global warming to social inequalities—cannot be solved within a single discipline. The same applies to the challenge of “dark” archives closed to users. We cannot expect archivists or digital humanists to find a magical solution that will instantly make digital records more accessible. Instead, we need to set up collaborations across disciplines that seldom talk to each other. Based on 21 interviews with 26 archivists, librarians and other professionals in cultural institutions, we identify key obstacles to making digitised and born-digital collections more accessible to users. We outline current levels of access to a wide range of collections in various cultural organisations, including no access at all and limited access (for example, when users are required to travel on-site to consult documents). We suggest possible solutions to the problems of access—including the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence to unlock “dark” archives inaccessible to users. Finally, we propose the creation of a global user community who would participate in decisions on access to digital collections.

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National archives, national memory? How national archives describe themselves and their mission

Rydén

2023

Arch Sci

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There is a widespread notion that archives, especially national archival institutions, represent the nation’s memory. Historically, archives have played an important role for history writing, thereby contributing to the construction of national master narratives and the strengthening of national identities. What the association between archives and memory actually means is however debated in archival literature. Taking the discussion on the relation between archives and memory as a starting point, this study examines how national archives in today’s world present themselves to the public. The source material consists of mission statements collected from 138 webpages and 18 Facebook accounts all over the world. The first research question concerns the connection between mission statements and a national master narrative, the second asks where references to national memory and national identity are most pronounced, and the third asks whether self-images of national archives can be connected to historical experiences. The analysis shows that mission statements contain many allusions to history and heritage, while references to memory and identity are less widespread than expected. Some variations between continents, and between different groups of countries are identified, although relatively small. A possible explanation is that national archives are engaged in quite a lot of international cooperation, for instance in the International Council on Archives and UNESCO. Thus, they are likely to be as much influenced by each other as by the political environment in their own countries.

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National archives’ priorities: an international overview

Cited by 5 publications

References 25 publications

Value attributed to text-based archives generated by artificial intelligence

Value attributed to text-based archives generated by artificial intelligence

How can we make born-digital and digitised archives more accessible? Identifying obstacles and solutions

National archives, national memory? How national archives describe themselves and their mission

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