In December 2014 we hosted a workshop at the Mass Observation (MO) Archive for children and families, whose data we were archiving from a series of previous studies. The aim was to generate new dialogues between young people, researchers and archivists, and new understanding about how data should be shared and re-used. The workshop provided participants with an opportunity to learn how an archive works, and to reflect on the ethics of archiving multimedia records of their everyday lives. Following the workshop, we have drafted a report detailing the issues raised in the workshop, along with a set of recommendations for professionals working with children’s archival data. You can access the report from this event here.
In order to share the knowledge generated through our events with fellow research and archival practitioners, we have developed a set of short open-access films (below) featuring participants from the December workshop. Each film addresses themes or concerns relating to the use of children’s archival data, including consent, data sharing and privacy. Drawing on the expertise of children and practitioners, the films aim to encourage and facilitate new forms of best practice for archivists and researchers (academic and non-academic) engaging with children’s data.
Technical note: To view a ‘full screen’ version of a video, click the button in the bottom right hand corner of the video window after pressing play.
