As a scholar focused on archival studies and management, my research is centered on the relationships between people and archives. 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
This work combines my lived experience as a refugee and my research expertise on personal archiving practices. The Records of Refuge project serves refugees, public librarians, archivists, records managers, community memory workers, and other individuals working with refugee communities through an investigation of best practices and protocols in the use and care of vital records upon entry into life in the United States and the creation and long-term preservation of refugees’ personal digital archives.
Campus Archives in the Shadow of Campus Sexual Assault
Estimates indicate that as many as 29% of college women are sexually assaulted in the United States (Rennison and Addington, 2014). This situation presents campus archivists with a quandary regarding what records they should collect regarding campus sexual assault. Additionally, campus archivists are faced with questions on how to best describe records that contain information on sexual assault. However, as many campus archives’ mission statements unequivocally state, the college and university archive acts as a repository of campus history. If campus archives are to preserve campus history, what happens when that history is part of an enduring difficult reality? Through a systematic investigation of US campus archival finding aids, collection policies, and mission statements, this ongoing study examines how campus archives are responding to the problem of campus sexual assault in the United States.
Selected Publications & Proceedings
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.
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).
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.
Roeschley, A., Kim, J., & Zavalina, O. L. (2020). An exploration of contributor-created description field in participatory archives. In International Conference on Information (pp. 638-648). Springer, Cham.
Roeschley, A. (2019). Using text mining and data visualization to trace the disciplinary boundaries of collective memory studies. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 56(1), 747-749.
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. doi:10.1007/s10502-019-09302-2
Roeschley, A. & Kim, J. (2018). A study of the intellectual structure of community archives. iConference 2018 Proceedings.
Sponsored Research
Total Awarded (as PI/Co-PI): $1,058,546
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.