Webinar: Metadata and Beyond: Understanding and Addressing the Representation of Chinese Students in University Archives with Radical Empathy

Description

This webinar will present a research project that examines the representation of historical Chinese international students in university archives and the elements that can impact representation problems. Using radical empathy as a guiding principle, we explored how 124 Chinese students at the University of Illinois (enrolled from 1904 to 1920) were represented in the university’s archival materials and archives-supplied access tools (e.g., metadata records, research guides). We found that inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and inappropriateness (three “I”s) are the main categories of representation issues that can negatively impact discovery and user engagement, and we synthesized a “Three-I Framework” to illustrate the system of interplaying agents, structural conditions (e.g., Chinese students are predominantly record subjects, the necessity and complexity of Romanizing Chinese names), and documentation layers and processes that may shape the three “I”s in archival materials and archives-supplied access tools. The Three-I Framework provides a working foundation for understanding and identifying gaps and problems in metadata records that mediate access to archival materials about Chinese international students. However, the complex nature of the framework also reveals that enhancing metadata alone is not sufficient for fully addressing the representation problems and discoverability issues of Chinese students in archives. We advocate for a holistic and empathetic approach that goes beyond enriching metadata, encouraging reflections on subtle marginalization and systemic issues and a praxis of slow archives to develop thoughtful and creative remediation strategies.