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

AURA网络将数字人文主义者、计算机科学家、档案保管员和其他利益攸关方聚集在一起，以解锁目前对用户关闭的“黑暗”数字档案馆中持有的文化资产。不久前，历史学家、文学学者和其他学者还会阅读特殊收藏图书馆保存的信件和其他文件。当然，这个模拟世界并没有消失，但数字革命深刻地改变了我们接触档案的方式。由于开放获取和商业软件的发展，出生数字档案现在得到了更好的保存和管理。然而，仅保留出生的数字记录是不够的。我们还需要获取这些档案材料，以便产生新的知识并促进公众参与。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，大多数出生的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)，用户通常也需要亲自前往存储库，而不是远程查阅材料。为了释放文化资产，我们需要将最优秀的人才聚集在一起，并利用最新的技术。目前，人工智能在档案领域的应用还处于探索阶段。然而，自动化不再是一种选择，而是一种必需品。人工智能可用于分离个人和商业电子邮件，并改进对非机密记录的可访问性；识别引用个人数据的文档部分，允许部分查看或有限访问档案内容；从档案中提取命名实体(人名、日期、事件)并将其链接到外部来源。虽然访问数字档案是必不可少的，但我们还需要预测出生数字记录将更容易访问的时刻。为了理解这些海量的数据，迫切需要新的方法，将传统的人文方法与数据丰富的方法结合起来。因此，人文学者、计算机科学家、档案保管员和其他利益相关者之间的合作对于使档案更容易获得至关重要，同时也是设计新的方法来分析海量数据的关键。该网络将集中于三个主要主题，将在三个研讨会中分别探讨：“开放数据与隐私”(在都柏林举行的研讨会1)；“人工智能与档案：当前的挑战与前景--数字档案诞生”(在伦敦举行的研讨会2)；“人工智能与档案：下一步是什么？”(爱丁堡第三期研讨会)。讲习班将经过精心安排，包括简短的陈述、加快与跨学科团队的会议，以讨论与整个讲习班主题有关的具体问题，以及旨在促成互利和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，并建立在不能现场的人参与的基础上。此外，一个项目网站将以报告、博客帖子和介绍录音的形式跟踪所有网络活动。相关的社交媒体，以及一个专门的列表服务器，将帮助我们与学术界、档案机构和其他领域的感兴趣的各方联系。

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.