Data curation in digital archives from an institutional perspective : A case study of the Swedish Peace Archives

Abstract: This master thesis aims to analyse the data curation situation and the decision-making processes of the archivists at the Swedish Peace Archives. With the theories in data curation and methodology in analysing both accessible web content and interviews, this thesis hopes to shed light on the institutional perspective in managing digital archives. By studying and analysing the empirical materials from the online archive websites and the database, the data curation theories are applied to locate the archive practices at different levels. The method in collecting qualitative data from interviews with the archivists gives insight into archive works and digitisation processes in the digital archives today.  The results show the complexity in data management from digitisation to curation, and digital archives as an information-intensive digital environment has caused the merge of humanities and archives scholarship. This shows the limitation in the data-centric digital humanities frameworks when discussing archive management and technical interoperability. A further study with more focus on individual institutions with their unique workflows, stakeholders, and material types in mind is therefore suggested.