Archives—including government archives, university archives, and independent community archives—are all dependent on the records they collect and preserve. These records—both analog and digital—are created by groups and individuals who interact with their records in a variety of ways. The proliferation of the Internet, generative AI, and big data have all affected how individuals relate to, experience, and share information. From personal and family documents to professional and government records, individuals and communities are defined by the records they create and the records that are created about them. It is vital that information scientists, and archival scholars in particular, understand how the changing information landscape affects individuals’ understanding of their records, their communities, and their relationships with archives and other information institutions.
Current Projects
Records of Refuge: Supporting Refugee Communities’ Archival Needs
Records of Refuge is a multi-pronged archival and information science initiative seeking to meet the information and documentation needs of refugees. Informed by our experiences and training as archival and information scholars who belong to refugee, immigrant, and US-born communities, we hope to use this project to rectify a relative lack of LIS literature on the documentation-related information needs of refugees and a relative lack of refugee voices in LIS spaces. In doing so, we seek to work alongside and with refugees while centering their voices and agency in our research into how information challenges affect refugee’ documentary burdens, how information challenges are mitigated, and how the LIS field can help meet the information needs of refugees and refugee service workers,
our refugee stories archive
Personal documents and the stories we pass down act as our connections to both the past and to ourselves. Each refugee’s story is a testament to resilience and we are working to create a tapestry of our stories. We believe that storytelling is a means of empathy building—providing opportunities for understanding and common ground between refugees and their new neighbors. Our Refugee Stories Archives (ORSA) is envisioned as a community-based archival resource that is open to all refugees in the United States. Now in its early conceptual stages, ORSA is partnering with UNT’s Digital Libraries to create digital collections for and by refugees, as well as openly available resources on best practices for archiving personal records for personal use. We aim to ensure that refugees and their stories are not only represented in archival collections, but that refugees can easily access and use their own personal collections.
ORSA Personal archiving curriculum
Our lives are defined by documents and records—from birth certificates to the photos on our social media, our personal archives are proof of who we are. Managing and preserving our personal archives can be difficult, this is especially true in the case of refugees and other individuals who experienced forced displacement. The ORSA curriculum is designed for refugees who are looking to keep the records they have safe and to create new records in resettlement.
Participatory User-Centered Design for Digital collections
While digitization of archival materials has made collections more accessible, user interfaces continue to be primarily designed for use by academic researchers. Despite the fact that these collections include materials relevant to academics and non-academics alike, the lack of consideration for non-academic user needs has limited the reach of digital collections. Using a participatory action research approach, we are working with non-academic members of the ORSA community to create accessible and easy-to-use digital interfaces, open-source educational materials, and online exhibits to ensure that their archive serves their needs.
Selected Publications
Roeschley, A., Alizai, K., Tharayil, C., & Lanier, A. (2025). An archival responsibility: A scoping review of literature regarding the documentary burdens of refugees. Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies.
Frederick, M., Roeschley, A., & Zavalina, O. L. (2025). Beyond language archives: Proposing the archival community informatics framework as an interdisciplinary link to revitalization lexicography. Information Research an International Electronic Journal, 30(iConf), 1169-1179.
Roeschley, A., Miller, J., Nikitopoulos, A., Gieringer, M.D., & Holden, J. (2024). Archiving difficult realities: A systematic investigation of records related to sexual violence in U.S. college and university archives. Archival Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-024-09434-0
Kim, J., Roeschley, A., & Byun, M. (2024). Building bridges, preserving voices: Key factors in community oral history stewardship. Journal of Documentation. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-11-2023-0247
Roeschley, A. (2023). Symbiosis or friction: Understanding participant motivations for information sharing and institutional goals in participatory archive initiatives. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/09610006231154912
Roeschley, A. (2023). “They care enough to document people's stories”: Using ethnographic methods to understand collection day outreach events in participatory archives. Library and Information Science Research, 45(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2023.101234
Holden, J. & Roeschley, A. (2020). Privacy and Access in the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Records. The American Archivist, 83(1), 77-90.
Benoit, E., III. & Roeschley, A. (2019). Degrees of mediation: A review of the intersectionality between community and participatory archives. In E. Benoit, III. & A. Eveleigh, (Eds.) Participatory Archives: Theory & Practice (pp. 159-171). London: Facet Publishing.
Roeschley, A. & Kim, J. (2019). “Something that feels like a community”: The role of personal stories in building community-based participatory archives. Archival Science, 19(1), 27-49. https://doi:10.1007/s10502-019-09302-2
Sponsored Research
Total Awarded (as PI/Co-PI): $1,473,912
2024-2027 Institute of Museum and Library Services
Inclusive Services to Enhance Immigrants' Resilience to Natural Disasters; Hong (PI), Roeschley (Co-PI), and Du (Co-PI); Award Amount: $415,366
To enhance public library services for immigrants in times of crisis, strengthen the resilience of under-resourced immigrant groups, and contribute to the overall well-being of communities.
2024-2025 National Endowment for the Humanities
ARCHIVALL-MSI: Advancing Resources for Cultural Heritage, Inclusion, and Visibility for ALL Communities; Lund (PI), Roeschley (Co-PI), Gieringer (Co-PI), and Wheeler (Co-PI); Award Amount: $97,484
To examine the status of archives at minority serving institutions, with a particular focus on digital archives efforts to promote cultural heritage.
2023-2026 Institute of Museum and Library Services
Records of Refuge: Supporting Refugee Communities’ Archival Needs; Roeschley (PI); Award Amount: $494,966
To investigate best practices and protocols in the care of vital records upon entry into the United States, as well as the creation and long-term preservation of personal digital archives of refugees.
2023-2026 Institute of Museum and Library Services
Stewarding Cultural Heritage: Latino Art, Museums, and Preservation Fellowship; Du (PI), Roeschley (Co-PI), Sharma (Co-PI), Evans (Co-PI), and Hyland (Co-PI); Award Amount: $396,362
To provide professional coaching, mentoring, and financial support for students advancing careers in Latino museums and cultural preservation studies and laying a foundation for academic success in graduate school.
2022-2024 Institute of Museum and Library Services
Connecting Communities with Libraries, Archives, and Historians through Oral Histories; Kim (PI), Roeschley (Co-PI), and Moye (Co-PI); Award Amount: $69,734
To identify best practices and strategies to respond to challenges around building, implementing, preserving, and accessing community oral history projects.