Kew's imperial archive: Cataloguing Economic Botany in the Miscellaneous Reports, 1841-1928

邱园帝国档案：杂项报告中的经济植物学编目，1841-1928

• 批准号: 2301105
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Roehampton
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2301105
• 关键词: Kew; imperial; archive; Cataloguing; Economic

To begin to understand the history of this collection I would first like to comb through the material in as much detail as possible, creating a preliminary database in which notes/tags/metadata and other information can be stored upon each volume. Following this, I would investigate the origins and provenance of the collection, to discover when, why and by whom the archive was formally established, and what, if anything, is missing. For example, there may be replies to letters sent from Kew but not necessarily the original queries. At this stage, it would also be interesting to consider how material was deemed 'worthy' of archiving: were all communications from the colonies of necessary significance or just some? And if so, who was making those distinctions, and why? The choice (or not) to archive certain material assists in the creation of 'official' narratives, especially in the conflict-ridden context of colonialism. Such complex questions can be informed by a wide range of critical theories. This initial process of familiarisation would benefit greatly from close partnership with the Assistant Archivist, who could offer valuable insight into the scope of the project.

为了开始了解这个集合的历史，我想首先尽可能详细地梳理这些材料，创建一个初步数据库，在其中可以存储每一卷的注释/标签/元数据和其他信息。之后，我将调查这些藏品的来源和来源，以找出档案是何时、为什么和由谁正式建立的，如果有什么缺失的话。例如，可能有对Kew发出的信件的答复，但不一定是原始查询。在这个阶段，考虑材料是如何被认为“值得”存档的也是很有趣的：来自殖民地的所有通信都具有必要的意义，还是只有一些？如果是这样的话，是谁做出了这些区别，为什么？选择(或不选择)将某些材料存档有助于“官方”叙事的创作，特别是在殖民主义冲突频发的背景下。这些复杂的问题可以通过广泛的批判性理论来解释。与助理档案员的密切伙伴关系将极大地促进这一初步熟悉进程，因为助理档案员可以提供对项目范围的宝贵见解。