Public Archives Research Articles

Multiple graphical views for automatically generating SQL for the MycoDiversity DB; making fungal biodiversity studies accessible.

Fungi is a highly diverse group of eukaryotic organisms that live under an extremely wide range of environmental conditions. Nowadays, there is a fundamental focus on observing how biodiversity varies on different spatial scales, in addition to understanding the environmental factors which drive fungal biodiversity. Metabarcoding is a high-throughput DNA sequencing technology that has positively contributed to observing fungal communities in environments. While the DNA sequencing data generated from metabarcoding studies are available in public archives, this valuable data resource is not directly usable for fungal biodiversity investigation. Additionally, due to its fragmented storage and distributed nature, it is not immediately accessible through a single user interface. We developed the MycoDiversity DataBase User Interface (https://mycodiversity.liacs.nl) to provide direct access and retrieval of fungal data that was previously inaccessible in the public domain. The user interface provides multiple graphical views of the data components used to reveal fungal biodiversity. These components include reliable geo-location terms, the reference taxonomic scientific names associated with fungal species and the standard features describing the environment where they occur. Direct observation of the public DNA sequencing data in association with fungi is accessible through SQL search queries created by interactively manipulating topological maps and dynamic hierarchical tree views. The search results are presented in configurable data table views that can be downloaded for further use. With the MycoDiversity DataBase User Interface, we make fungal biodiversity data accessible, assisting researchers and other stakeholders in using metabarcoding studies for assessing fungal biodiversity.

The Palantir Files: public interest archives for platform accountability

ABSTRACT Platforms designed for data integration and analysis introduce unique challenges for understanding the social implications of data management in public services. Researchers who study such platforms in the public interest must negotiate limited access to proprietary systems and the firms that make them but can create accountability through openly available data. This paper introduces an approach to researching a data integration and analysis firm, Palantir Technologies, through what we call ‘public interest archives for platform accountability.’ The paper begins by introducing data integration and analysis platforms as an emerging sector of the platform economy, followed by a summary of academic researchers’ challenges. We then provide a literature review of Palantir research, public interest archives, and contemporary archival projects for platform accountability. Then, we present our Palantir case study and describe our methods for document tracking to build a corpus (n = 2807), including court documents, privacy impact assessments, press releases, contracts, Freedom of Information Act requests, non-governmental organization reports, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and patents. We end with several vignettes that help researchers understand this material’s significance to platform accountability.

Publishing publicly available interview data: an empirical example of the experience of publishing interview data.

In September 2021 I made a collection of interview transcripts available for public use under a CreativeCommons license through the Princeton DataSpace. The interviews include 39 conversations I had with gig workers at AmazonFlex, Uber, and Lyft in 2019 as part of a study on automation efforts within these organizations. I made this decision because (1) I was required to contribute to a publicly available data set as a requirement of my funding and (2) I saw it as an opportunity to engage in the collaborative qualitative science experiments emerging in Science and Technology studies. This article documents my thought process and step-by-step design decisions for designing a study, gathering data, masking it, and publishing it in a public archive. Importantly, once I decided to publish these data, I determined that each choice about how the study would be designed and implemented had to be assessed for risk to the interviewee in a very deliberate way. It is not meant to be comprehensive and cover every possible condition a researcher may face while producing qualitative data. I aimed to be transparent both in my interview data and the process it took to gather and publish these data. I use this article to illustrate my thought process as I made each design decision for this study in hopes that it could be useful to a future researcher considering their own data publishing process.

Defining Sustainable Priorities and Actions for Storage of a Public Archive: A UK Case Study

ABSTRACT Storage facilities often comprise the most energy-intensive burden within archives. One green solution is a passive building with high thermal inertia and airtightness, to create stable environmental conditions without mechanical intervention, and provide appropriate temperature and RH ranges and good air quality for preservation. However, where airtightness is concerned, there is potential for accumulation of pollutants within densely occupied repositories such as library and archive stores. This risk is not addressed by current requirements for greener operation, because operational conflicts arise when balancing these three environmental parameters. This article discusses air quality and its effects on archive materials. It contributes to better understanding of green operation for archives. It presents a preliminary study carried out at Norfolk Record Office in the UK on options to increase archives storage capacity whilst improving both public access and preservation. This concluded that an initial programme to replace low-quality packaging which is a generator of VOCs, and the building of on-site passive storage, were the most sustainable solutions.

Best practices for genetic and genomic data archiving.

Genetic and genomic data are collected for a vast array of scientific and applied purposes. Despite mandates for public archiving, data are typically used only by the generating authors. The reuse of genetic and genomic datasets remains uncommon because it is difficult, if not impossible, due to non-standard archiving practices and lack of contextual metadata. But as the new field of macrogenetics is demonstrating, if genetic data and their metadata were more accessible and FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) compliant, they could be reused for many additional purposes. We discuss the main challenges with existing genetic and genomic data archives, and suggest best practices for archiving genetic and genomic data. Recognizing that this is a longstanding issue due to little formal data management training within the fields of ecology and evolution, we highlight steps that research institutions and publishers could take to improve data archiving.

Population Change and Residential Segregation in Italian Small Areas, 2011–2021: An Analysis With New Spatial Units

This article explores spatial patterns of demographic change and residential segregation in Italy over the past decade, a topic which has not been studied in detail in the literature. Population ageing and migration are unfolding rapidly in a number of European countries, generating tensions and challenges at local level. Aggregate regional or national statistics can conceal significant variations at local level, which are of considerable interest and relevance. This is particularly the case in Italy, where spatial heterogeneity and regional disparities are marked. The analysis presented in this paper uses a new source of data derived from large public archives, which permits comparisons to be made at local level with the 2011 census of population. In this way, it is possible to map out and to analyse demographic trends at a fine level of spatial definition. In order to exploit the potential of these data, the authors use a new set of spatial units which were derived by applying automatic rezoning procedures. These output areas are well suited to the study of the age structure of local populations, population change, and migration in a uniform way across the entire national territory, as the empirical results confirm.

Librarians, archivists, and museum professionals’ role perceptions and cross sectoral collaboration – Signs of convergence?

Public libraries, archives, and museums have identifiable differences related to their founding missions and play many roles in today’s cultural sector and broader society, yet LAM institutions’ professional activities appear very similar. Moreover, increased digitization of LAM collections allows for increased collaboration and convergence across the institutions, and the merging of L, A, and M education at the tertiary level nurtures a common professional knowledge base. How are the LAM professions developing in relation to each other; are they growing together or apart? This paper analyzes questionnaire responses reflecting European LAM professionals’ perceptions of their roles as cultural professionals and how this influences their likelihood to collaborate with others in the LAM sector. Collaboration is prevalent between the three types of professionals studied. Forty-six percent of librarians confirm that they collaborate with archives and/or museums, 60% of archives report collaborating with libraries and museums, and 73% of museologists collaborate with libraries and/or archives. LAM professionals perceive their roles as distinct and closely tied to the core of their social mission. There are various factors influencing collaboration among Library, Archive, and Museum (LAM) professionals.

Novel Automatic Classification of Human Adult Lung Alveolar Type II Cells Infected with SARS-CoV-2 through the Deep Transfer Learning Approach

Transmission electron microscopy imaging provides a unique opportunity to inspect the detailed structure of infected lung cells with SARS-CoV-2. Unlike previous studies, this novel study aims to investigate COVID-19 classification at the lung cellular level in response to SARS-CoV-2. Particularly, differentiating between healthy and infected human alveolar type II (hAT2) cells with SARS-CoV-2. Hence, we explore the feasibility of deep transfer learning (DTL) and introduce a highly accurate approach that works as follows: First, we downloaded and processed 286 images pertaining to healthy and infected hAT2 cells obtained from the electron microscopy public image archive. Second, we provided processed images to two DTL computations to induce ten DTL models. The first DTL computation employs five pre-trained models (including DenseNet201 and ResNet152V2) trained on more than one million images from the ImageNet database to extract features from hAT2 images. Then, it flattens and provides the output feature vectors to a trained, densely connected classifier with the Adam optimizer. The second DTL computation works in a similar manner, with a minor difference in that we freeze the first layers for feature extraction in pre-trained models while unfreezing and jointly training the next layers. The results using five-fold cross-validation demonstrated that TFeDenseNet201 is 12.37× faster and superior, yielding the highest average ACC of 0.993 (F1 of 0.992 and MCC of 0.986) with statistical significance (P<2.2×10−16 from a t-test) compared to an average ACC of 0.937 (F1 of 0.938 and MCC of 0.877) for the counterpart (TFtDenseNet201), showing no significance results (P=0.093 from a t-test).

Unknown Manuscript of “Bandura Playing Handbook” From DP Period

The purpose of the research is to introduce the manuscript of the “Bandura Playing Handbook” by an unknown author (Augsburg, Germany, 1951) into scientific circulation in the context of providing educational and methodological publications on the Ukrainian art of bandura playing abroad. The research methodology is based on the principles of historical, cultural, textual, and axiological approaches. Methods such as historical and typological, analysis and synthesis, music textual method, and musicological analysis were used, which made it possible to identify not only trends in the evolution of teaching and methodological approaches to teaching bandura playing but also the personological aspects of their formation. Particular attention is paid to the need to systematise not only the methods in printed editions of handbooks and self-tutorials on bandura but also manuscript rarities that remain in public and private archives and require proper scientific and methodological understanding. The scientific novelty of the study is determined by the introduction of the analysis of the manuscript “Bandura Playing Handbook” by an unknown author (Augsburg, Germany, 1951), created during the so-called camp period in Germany, where displaced persons (DP – Displaced Persons) were kept. The music manuscript is part of the documentary materials of the Archives of the Ukrainian Free University (Munich, Germany). Conclusions. The study analyses the handbook materials from the methodological and fingering points of view, the sequence of mastering the instrument, the formation of the bandura repertoire, and its comparison with similar examples in Ukrainian musical art. It determines the value of the handbook from the point of view of popularising the Ukrainian national musical instrument in the conditions of emigration and spreading the performing traditions of bandura art.

Med-ImageTools: An open-source Python package for robust data processing pipelines and curating medical imaging data

Background Machine learning and AI promise to revolutionize the way we leverage medical imaging data for improving care but require large datasets to train computational models that can be implemented in clinical practice. However, processing large and complex medical imaging datasets remains an open challenge. Methods To address this issue, we developed Med-ImageTools, a new Python open-source software package to automate data curation and processing while allowing researchers to share their data processing configurations more easily, lowering the barrier for other researchers to reproduce published works. Use cases We have demonstrated the efficiency of Med-ImageTools across three different datasets, resulting in significantly reduced processing times. Conclusions The AutoPipeline feature will improve the accessibility of raw clinical datasets on public archives, such as the Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA), the largest public repository of cancer imaging, allowing machine learning researchers to process analysis-ready formats without requiring deep domain knowledge.

Gendered urban cycling and the ethics of caring: coming to voice in the streets of Tijuana and Oaxaca amidst the patriarcarro

ABSTRACT This article explores grassroots organisations and collectives of women cyclists in the cities of Tijuana and Oaxaca, Mexico. Taking a narrative approach, it delves into the idea of public space that emerges from their life histories, chronicles, and talk groups. It contends that the narratives of their urban practices and interventions, and of their lives as a whole, are a radical resignification of the meaning and purposes of streets and other urban public spaces. Currently sites of different forms of oppression, in these women’s actions and narrative formulations, they become places ‘from which I come to voice’, intersubjective locations of ‘radical openness and possibilities’ developed through an ethics of caring. This collective vision pushes against capitalist ideas of streets as places for the efficient transit of individuals for productivity and consumption, and against oppressive boundaries of gender, sex, and class. Instead, what emerges from their narrated experience is a relational form of mobility, a way through the city that fosters self-affirmation, inclusivity, and community. Our contribution is based on five years of ethnographic fieldwork in Mexico and on ‘disappropriative writing’ exercises with our participants to produce the collaborative public archive of community narratives of urban cycling (www.reciclarseenlaciudad.com) upon which this and other research outcomes of this project are based.

Heritage Identification of Monument Using Deep Learning

Abstract: There are many beautiful and colorful countries in the world which are famous for their culture and heritage. The historical landmarks of such countries convey a great deal through their magnificent structures and rich heritage. The extensive past and legacy of such nations are apparent in the splendid palaces, fortresses, towers, shrines, and cathedrals that are scattered throughout the entirety of their land. We need to protect cultural monuments and landmarks as they are one of the sources of inspiration for future generations. Traditional methods for monument identification often rely on manual inspection or rudimentary computer vision techniques, which can be time-consuming and error-prone. We can provide the best solutions using modern machine learning and deep learning techniques. In our model, we used an approach based on deep learning for the automated identification of heritage monuments from images. We leveraged the power of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to extract hierarchical features from monument images and train a classifier to recognize different architectural styles and structures. We evaluated our approach on a dataset comprising diverse monument images collected from public archives and online repositories. We applied various pre-processing techniques such as image resizing, normalization of pixel values, and data augmentation. We analyzed and further improved the model’s performance for heritage identification of monuments.

A3COSMOS and A3GOODSS: Continuum source catalogues and multi-band number counts

Context. Galaxy submillimetre number counts are a fundamental measurement in our understanding of galaxy evolution models. Most early measurements are obtained via single-dish telescopes with substantial source confusion, whereas recent interferometric observations are limited to small areas. Aims. We used a large database of ALMA continuum observations to accurately measure galaxy number counts in multiple (sub)millimetre bands, thus bridging the flux density range between single-dish surveys and deep interferometric studies. Methods. We continued the Automated Mining of the ALMA Archive in the COSMOS Field project (A3COSMOS) and extended it with observations from the GOODS-South field (A3GOODSS). The database consists of ∼4000 pipeline-processed continuum images from the public ALMA archive, yielding 2050 unique detected sources, including sources with and without a known optical counterpart. To infer galaxy number counts, we constructed a method to reduce the observational bias inherent to targeted pointings that dominate the database. This method comprises a combination of image selection, masking, and source weighting. The effective area was calculated by accounting for inhomogeneous wavelengths, sensitivities, and resolutions and for the spatial overlap between images. We tested and calibrated our method with simulations. Results. We derived the number counts in a consistent and homogeneous way in four different ALMA bands covering a relatively large area. The results are consistent with number counts retrieved from the literature within the uncertainties. In Band 7, at the depth of the inferred number counts, ∼40% of the cosmic infrared background is resolved into discrete sources. This fraction, however, decreases with increasing wavelength, reaching ∼4% in Band 3. Finally, we used the number counts to test models of dusty galaxy evolution, and find a good agreement within the uncertainties. Conclusions. By continuing the A3COSMOS and A3GOODSS archival effort, we obtained the deepest archive-based (sub)millimetre number counts measured to date over such a wide area. This database proves to be a valuable resource that, thanks to its substantial size, can be used for statistical analyses after having applied certain conservative restrictions.

Toward Precision Cosmology with Improved Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function Distances Using VLT-MUSE. II. A Test Sample from Archival Data

Thanks to the MUSE integral field spectrograph on board the Very Large Telescope (VLT), extragalactic distance measurements with the [O iii] λ5007 planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF) are now possible out to ∼40 Mpc. Here we analyze the VLT/MUSE data for 20 galaxies from the ESO public archive to identify the systems’ planetary nebulae (PNe) and determine their PNLF distances. Three of the galaxies do not contain enough PNe for a robust measure of the PNLF, and the results for one other system are compromised of the galaxy’s internal extinction. However, we obtain robust PNLF distances for the remaining 16 galaxies, two of which are isolated and beyond 30 Mpc in a relatively unperturbed Hubble flow. From these data, we derive a Hubble constant of 74.2 ± 7.2 (stat) ±3.7 (sys) km s−1 Mpc−1, a value that is very similar to that found from other quality indicators (e.g., Cepheids, the tip of the red giant branch, and surface brightness fluctuations). At present, the uncertainty is dominated by the small number of suitable galaxies in the ESO archive and their less-than-ideal observing conditions and calibrations. Based on our experience with these systems, we identify the observational requirements necessary for the PNLF to yield a competitive value for H 0 that is independent of the Type Ia supernova distance scale.

Sports Journalism at the height of Portugal’s Dictatorship: Bureaucracy and Censorship (1935-1960)

During Portugal’s dictatorship (1926-1974) there were said to be three pillars to appease its population: Fado (the music connected to culture and tradition), Fátima (symbolizing the Catholic religion) and Football (the most popular sport). Because of the importance of these three F’s, news outlets that specialized in these subjects were, in theory, given a bigger freedom. And yet, all periodical publications were targeted by the Portuguese censorship and were regularly constrained by it.
 With this in mind this study will centre on the relationship between the censorship services and the journalistic publications of the third F, newspapers and news bulletins that were mainly concerned with covering sports and sporting events. We will analyse the censorship records and public archives during the height of the dictatorial regime, 1935-1960, in an effort to perceive how these journalistic publications were controlled through bureaucracy and surveillance.

“Capitality” beyond the Capital City? Brasília and Its Satellite Towns

In 1960, Brasília replaced Rio de Janeiro as the capital city of Brazil. Although the planned urban core of Brasília—the so-called Plano Piloto—has been the subject of many in-depth studies, the urban history of the settlements on its outskirts—its satellite towns—remains underexplored to date. The national official discourse tended to either neglect the problematic conditions of satellite towns or picture them as part of the hardships that workers bravely put up with for the sake of lofty ideals. Based on 83 interviews recorded by the Public Archive of Brasília between 1995 and 2005, this article analyzes narratives on social practices and experiences that configured the urban spaces of satellite towns and provided them with new significance. It also investigates how people elaborated their memories and appropriated topics from institutionalized history to make points on their present-day needs and demands. Rather than seeing the “capitality” of Brasília as the product of a top-down political project, this article deems it to be a complex cultural artifact shaped by multiple perspectives and experiences, themselves informed by the discourses and practices of modernization.

Development of Open Education Resources to Teach Oral History: Perspectives of a Sports Heritage-Engaged Scholarship Initiative in Gauteng, South Africa

Gaps exist in archival practices, and developments are in progress to decolonise and transform archives by supplementing existing archival collections with oral history accounts. This is a recent development in the archival field, requiring archivists and records managers to become aware of how oral history collections should be undertaken to preserve testimonies related to socio-economic, sociopolitical, and cultural events not yet captured by South African public archivists. An open educational resource (OER) was developed in 2022 as part of an engaged scholarship initiative to instruct archivists on oral history research techniques and how to apply research ethics when undertaking such projects. The research paradigm for this study was a postmodernist qualitative study. Action-based research was used in the research design. Action research is a flexible methodology uniquely suited to research and support change. It integrates social research with exploratory actions to promote development. Action research outcomes are both practical and theoretical. The knowledge it generates directly and continuously impacts the changing practices of the participants. Data from participants were collected through recorded project workshops and meetings. The content for the OER was developed from observing online videos showcasing oral history interviews, consulting literature on OER development, and discussions with archivists and heritage collectors at the South African National Film, Video and Sound Archives, the South African National Parks Board, and the Gauteng Provincial Archives. The OER was developed to enable collaboration to ensure that the oral narratives of postcolonial Africa, particularly post-apartheid South Africa, are not lost but captured by the public archives’ services for the benefit of South Africans and other interested stakeholders.

Filling knowledge gaps in insect conservation by leveraging genetic data from public archives.

Insect decline has become a growing concern in recent years, with studies showing alarming declines in populations of several taxa. Our knowledge about genetic spatial patterns and evolutionary history of insects still exhibits significant gaps hindering our ability to effectively conserve and manage insect populations and species. Genetic data may provide valuable insights into the diversity and the evolutionary relationships of insects' species and populations. Public repositories, such as GenBank and BOLD, containing vast archives of genetic data with associated metadata, offer an irreplaceable resource for researchers contributing to our understanding of species diversity, population structure and evolutionary relationships. However, there are some issues in using these data, as they are often scattered and may lack accuracy due to inconsistent sampling protocols and incomplete information. In this paper we describe a curated georeferenced database of genetic data collected in GenBank and BOLD, for insects listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Italian Red Lists (dragonflies, bees, saproxylic beetles and butterflies). After querying these repositories, we performed quality control and data standardization steps. We created a dataset containing approximately 33 000 mitochondrial sequences and associated metadata about taxonomy, collection localities, geographic coordinates and IUCN Red List status for 1466 species across the four insect lists. We describe the current state of geographical metadata in queried repositories for species listed under different conservation status in the Italian Red Lists to quantify data gaps posing barriers to prioritization of conservation actions. Our curated dataset is available for data repurposing and analysis, enabling researchers to conduct comparative studies. We emphasize the importance of filling knowledge gaps in insect diversity and distribution and highlight the potential of this dataset for promoting other research fields like phylogeography, macrogenetics and conservation strategies. Our database can be downloaded through the Zenodo repository in SQL format. Database URL: https://zenodo.org/records/8375181.

Non‐documents for Big Decisions: The Commission and the EEC–Japan Automotive Agreement (1991)

AbstractThis article highlights some material aspects of informal governance by analysing the unsigned confidential documents intended to drive the future of the European automotive sector in 1991. Whilst it was long thought that the EEC–Japan agreement had been unwritten, this study reveals that it was a combination of oral and written statements, bilateral decisions and unilateral interpretations. These ambiguities have been used by the Commission to achieve the impossible: providing for one thing and its opposite in order to satisfy extremely divided opinions. Using public and private archives of several stakeholders, the article underlines the Commission's power over institutional (Member States and the European Parliament) and private (industry and NGOs) players. Whilst recent studies have pointed to repeated unwritten rules to temper informality leading to a democratic deficit, the 1991 non‐consensual consensus eluded any tacit rule because it lay in the grey area of diplomacy, economics and law.

The future of access to private archives? Public–private partnership in South African archives

Purpose This study aims to assess the role of the National Archives of South Africa (NARSSA) in promoting the preservation and management of private archives. Design/methodology/approach This study used the qualitative method, and data was collected through unstructured questionnaires and interviews. In addition, purposive sampling was used to collect data from the selected archivist. Findings The study found that the NARSSA raised awareness on the preservation of private archives and is also in the process of reviewing the National Archives and Records Service Act 43 of 1996 to promote the preservation and management of private archives. The study also revealed that the role of the NARSSA in enforcing compliance with Section 14 of the National Archives and Records Service Act 43 of 1996 for the proper management and coordination of private archives was ineffective because of a lack of coordination, infrastructure, training and development. Research limitations/implications The qualitative data was obtained from three participants with the NARSSA and two selected from private archives. The sample is small to generalise results. The public–private cooperation in archives management is limited, and this is proved by the severely limited number of participants in the research. Furthermore, the private archive in this study is limited to the liberation movement archives institutions in South Africa. Practical implications This study could work as a stimulus for potential approaches to conduct further research on the possible kinds of cooperation between private–public archival organisations. Social implications The study is innovative, in that there are very few research investigations that focused on the cooperation between private and public archives in the African region and especially in South Africa. Originality/value The article makes a significant contribution to the area of private–public archival organisations, especially in South Africa. It will expand the knowledge on private–public archive cooperation and management in South Africa and the rest of the African continent.