“Pop-Up” Archive: How to Get the Public into Archives, by Taking the Archive to the Public

This project examines how people think about and interact with special collections through the implementation of a “pop-up” archive outreach event. The event is a collaboration between the Southern Folklife Collection (SFC) in Wilson Library at the University of Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill Public Libraries. Analyzing the information science field's work around power dynamics within archives, community archives, the post-custodial model, and public outreach, this “pop-up” archive hopes to disrupt normative archival power structures. Through participants' conversations on personal meaning, this project looks to add personal meaning into archival description through collaboration. Additionally, by focusing the “pop-up” around participants’ interests and materials they can situate themselves in an archival and/or special collection environment. This project hopes to work as an outreach prototype for other institutions to use. Moreover, bringing the archive into a public space can help crystalize cognitive barriers the public has between themselves and archival institutions.Master of Science in Library Scienc