AURA (Archives in the UK/ Republic of Ireland & AI): Bringing together Digital Humanists, Computer Scientists & stakeholders to unlock cultural assets

AURA网络汇集了数字人文主义者、计算机科学家、档案管理员和其他利益相关者，以解锁目前对用户关闭的“黑暗”数字档案中的文化资产。不久以前，历史学家、文学学者和其他学者会阅读保存在特藏图书馆的信件和其他文件。当然，这种模拟世界并没有消失，但数字革命已经深刻地改变了我们遇到档案的方式。由于开放获取和商业软件的发展，原生数字档案现在得到了更好的保存和管理。然而，仅仅保存电子数据记录是不够的。我们还需要访问这些档案材料，以产生新的知识和促进公众参与。档案是用来使用的，而不是锁起来的。一个核心问题是，由于隐私、版权或技术问题，大多数电子数字档案馆对用户关闭。即使在可以访问的情况下（如网络档案），用户往往需要亲自前往储存库，而不是远程查阅材料。为了释放文化资产，我们需要汇集最优秀的人才，利用最新的技术。目前，人工智能在档案工作中的应用还处于探索阶段。然而，自动化不再是一种选择，而是一种必然。人工智能可用于区分个人和商业电子邮件，并改善非机密记录的可访问性;确定文件中涉及个人数据的部分，允许部分查看或有限访问档案内容;提取命名实体（人名、日期、事件），并将其链接到外部资源。虽然访问数字档案至关重要，我们还需要预测何时可以更方便地获取非数字记录。为了理解这些海量数据，迫切需要新的方法，将传统的人文方法与数据丰富的方法相结合。因此，人文学者、计算机科学家、档案管理员和其他利益相关者之间的合作对于使档案更容易获取至关重要，同时也是设计分析大量数据的新方法的关键。该网络将侧重于三个主题，三个研讨会将分别探讨：“开放数据与隐私”（都柏林研讨会1）;“人工智能与档案：原生数字档案的当前挑战和前景”（伦敦研讨会2）;“人工智能与档案：接下来会发生什么？”（爱丁堡第三次研讨会）。研讨会将精心组织，包括简短的演讲，与跨学科团队的快速会议，以讨论与研讨会总体主题有关的具体问题，以及旨在实现互利，可持续合作的实际活动。我们还将为每个研讨会创建维基页面，以促进异步讨论，并建立在无法现场参与的人的基础上。此外，一个项目网站将以报告、博客文章和发言录音的形式跟踪所有网络活动。相关的社交媒体，以及一个专门的listserv，将帮助我们与感兴趣的各方-在学术界，档案机构和超越。

The AURA network brings together Digital Humanists, Computer Scientists, archivists and other stakeholders to unlock cultural assets held in "dark" digital archives currently closed to users. Not so long ago, historians, literary scholars and other scholars would read letters and other papers preserved in Special Collections Libraries. Of course, this analogue world has not disappeared, but the digital revolution has profoundly changed the way we encounter archives. Born-digital archives are now better preserved and managed thanks to the development of open-access and commercial software. Yet, preserving born-digital records is not enough. We also need access to these archival materials, in order to produce new knowledge and foster public engagement. Archives are meant to be used, not locked away. A central problem is that most born-digital archives are closed to users due to privacy, copyright or technical issues. Even when access is possible (as in the case of web archives), users often need to physically travel to repositories rather than consult materials remotely. In order to unlock cultural assets, we need to bring the best minds together and harness the latest technology. At present, applying Artificial Intelligence to archives remains at the exploratory stage. Yet, automation is no longer a choice, it is a necessity. AI can be used to separate personal and business emails and improve accessibility to non-confidential records; identify sections of documents that refer to personal data allowing partial views or limited access to the archival content; extract named entities (people names, dates, events) from archives and link them to external sources.While access to digital archives is essential, we also need to anticipate the moment when born-digital records will be more accessible. To make sense of this mass of data, new methodologies are urgently needed, combining traditional humanistic methods with data-rich approaches. Collaborations between Humanities scholars, Computer Scientists, archivists and other stakeholders are therefore essential to make archives more accessible, but also to design new methodologies to analyse huge amounts of data.The network will focus on three major themes, that will be explored in each of the three workshops: "Open Data versus Privacy" (Workshop 1 in Dublin); "AI and Archives: Current Challenges and Prospects of Born-digital archives" (Workshop 2 in London); "AI and Archives: What comes next?" (Workshop 3 in Edinburgh). The workshops will be carefully structured to include a mix of short presentations, speed meetings with interdisciplinary teams to discuss a specific question relating to the overall workshop theme, and practical activities designed to lead to mutually beneficial, sustainable collaborations. We will also create wiki pages for each workshop to foster asynchronous discussion, and build on the participation of people that cannot be onsite. In addition, a project website will keep track of all the network activities in the form of reports, blog posts and recordings of presentations. Associated social media, as well as a dedicated listserv, will help us connect with interested parties - in academia, archival institutions and beyond.