DRP-MH researchers Harriet Barratt and Fiona Johnstone from the Platform’s Visual and Material Lab, and Coreen McGuire from our Measurement Lab, have together published an Open Letter responding to a recent report on the archives, museums and collections sector.
The Wellcome report on ‘Archives, manuscripts and material culture in life, health and wellbeing research’ offers suggestions to improve the field’s research infrastructure, including a commitment to increase targeted funding to the sector over the coming years.
We welcome this timely report, and applaud its recognition of the archives, manuscripts and material culture (AMC) sector as foundational infrastructures for discovery research. The DRP-MH Open Letter outlines our thoughts and suggestions in more detail, stressing three key points:
- We emphasise that medical humanities work with archives, manuscripts and material culture generates transformational biomedical and cultural knowledge capable of effecting real-world reform.
- We urge caution regarding digitisation initiatives, particularly concerning AI training using existing collections, emphasising the need for ethical consideration of environmental impact, intellectual property, and the perpetuation of structural inequities in digital infrastructure.
- We advocate for expansive definitions of health-related material culture beyond biomedical paradigms, encompassing artistic collections and emphasising the irreplaceable value of sensory and affective experiences in hands-on collections work.
Find out more
- Read the full Open Letter.
- Explore The Visual and Material Lab and The Measurement Lab
- Find out more about Harriet Barratt, Fiona Johnstone and Coreen McGuire
