Documenting COVID-19 in Australia: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

  • Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller Centre for Social Research & Methods, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37683/asa.v51.10957
Keywords: Digital ephemera, Ethics, Privacy, Social media

Abstract

Social media posts and unpublished student projects are just two examples of the digital content – a type of ephemeral popular culture – produced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Collecting this material would provide researchers and analysts with information that is complementary to other data used to report and capture the crisis, such as government policies and scientific documentation. But what are the long-term privacy implications of collecting this material? In this time of privacy paradoxes and the Data Economy, does the responsibility for the ethical use of this data fall onto the archivists and researchers?

Author Biography

Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller, Centre for Social Research & Methods, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

Dr Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Research & Methods at the Australian National University. Terhi’s research focuses on interdisciplinary experimentation into ways digital technologies and computational methods can be used to support and diversify research in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences in general, and in relation to public culture, including Web Science, and the cultural heritage sector in particular. Terhi’s publications centre on topics related to Linked Data, knowledge representation, and digital libraries, but cover a range of other topics from the role of gamification and informal online environments to 3D digital models in museums. Terhi is a CI on an Australian Research Council-funded project (Nyingarn: a Platform for Primary Sources in Australian Indigenous Languages, led by University of Melbourne); and a member of the Territory Records Advisory Council, Australian Capital Territory Government.

Published
2023-12-01
How to Cite
Nurmikko-Fuller T. (2023) “Documenting COVID-19 in Australia: An Interdisciplinary Perspective”, Archives & Manuscripts, 51(1), pp. 51-56. doi: 10.37683/asa.v51.10957.
Issue
Vol 51 No 1 (2023): Documenting Australian Society Redux
Section
Reflection articles

Copyright (c) 2023 Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller

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