Washington College Archives. Source: EdTech Magazine.
AR as Research Tool
There was a study completed in discovery for ways in which AR could help researchers who use archives as part of their work.
It looked at 3 workflows of the archive researchers to better understand how to match potential AR functionality with steps in their workflow process.
Pre-visit : before making the archival visit, research online information about the topic/object (in databases, connect with other fellow researchers in their network. Organize their findings in digital documents/folders etc. decide on the best suited archive/ like institution to visit.
Archival visit: “A researcher sifts through various boxes of data to find archives relevant to their research. Here, researchers take an 'exploratory' approach to sort through the archives and analyze each item and create their own filing system for reference. Researchers generally take photos of items in the collection with their own mobile devices and create their own database for items that are relevant to their topic of research. They note details such as the box number, date, and object number of the collection. This way, they may easily refer back to the physical collection and know how to find each item easily.” (Kalinda, 2020)
Post-visit: “ Once researchers have visited the archives, they use their new-found insights to either redirect or reinforce the stories they are telling about these objects. They link the items to greater social structures and address the implications of the items carried within their historical context. Heritage researchers who are professors use the photos they took at an archive for use in their publications. Curators generally opt to use the physical objects themselves in their exhibitions . In other cases, the research is ongoing and can lead to other archival visits for long-term projects, such as books.” (Kalinda, 2020)
AR could lend the greatest assistance with the accessibility and cataloguing of the collection. The study highlights the practical use of the researchers own devices in conjunction with the in person artifacts or ephemera, which is low effort on the institution’s side. The researchers would have access to 2 interfaces of information, one in the physical presence and the other as a virtual experience to compare and contrast. There could also be options to create their own collection with both these experiences (for continuation of their projects/ applications at a later date).
The study also raised the possibility to create a tagging system within the app that could help aid in the organization of these personally curated collections. Additionally request or direct edits of the artifact description or other properties could be facilitated through this application (even more broadly if connected to open data sources).
Here are some ideas for the potential application AR in research assistance:
Author: Jessika Davis