Libraries creating sustainable services during community crisis: Documenting Ferguson

Abstract

Purpose

Throughout history various social movements have galvanized the masses to actualize a more inclusive and humane world. It is through libraries and archives that the authors can revisit those moments in time to better understand the past and hopefully build a better future. Issues of sustainability within libraries and archives collecting traditional materials from important historical events still create somewhat of a challenge, but with advancements of technologies and workflows, the authors are now better equipped to manage and preserve those items. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

However, in terms of the historical importance of the content from recent protests against police violence, the question arises of how does one create sustainable processes on materials that are captured on temporal technologies or how does an institution create trust where protesters and activists will freely place their content in a digital archive?

Findings

Washington University in St Louis Libraries’ project Documenting Ferguson, is attempting to tackle some of those challenging questions and working through the implications of a non-traditional social movement’s impact on archival collection building and future research, teaching, and learning. Both authors served on the steering committee as employees of Washington University Libraries upon project inception.

Originality/value

Rapid response collecting with the intent to preserve and make accessible relevant born digital content for future generations and to develop unlikely relationships with neighboring community to ensure history is documented from multiple view points.

Citation

Foster, M.J. and Evans, M.R. (2016), "Libraries creating sustainable services during community crisis: Documenting Ferguson", Library Management, Vol. 37 No. 6/7, pp. 352-362. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-06-2016-0049