Paper Short Abstract:

Drawing on experiences from the RDC Qualiservice this talk addresses methodological and ethical challenges of archiving and sharing data from ethnographic fieldwork. We discuss best practices and strategies that ensure controlled access while balancing openness with ethical considerations.

Paper Abstract:

Research materials from ethnographic fieldwork—such as diaries, photographs, interview transcripts, and social media data—are inherently heterogeneous. Ethnographic data usually result from relational processes, they are context-sensitive and typically contain rich, detailed, sensitive, and often personal information. Collecting, using and storing data presents significant methodological and ethical challenges, and digitalization increases further issues regarding change, loss or data misuse.

Despite the growing emphasis on research data management (RDM) by funding bodies, which in the light of open science call for making digital research data and materials as openly accessible as possible, suitable infrastructures, support systems for researchers, and strategies for managing digital data tailored to the specific needs of individual disciplines, remain limited. Since 2019, the Specialized Information Service for Social and Cultural Anthropology (FID SKA) at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has partnered with the Research Data Center (RDC) Qualiservice at the University of Bremen to establish an appropriate archiving environment and develop strategies for archiving and sharing ethnographic data in Germany.

What does it mean to provide access to ethnographic materials, and how can previously archived data be accessed and reused, and what implications and possibilities does data sharing hold for ethnographic research processes? In this report, we highlight best practices and strategies for preparing ethnographic materials for archiving and reuse, drawing on our experiences at Qualiservice. We propose approaches for making archived materials accessible under controlled conditions, balancing openness with ethical considerations.