Primary  issues:

The  Research  focus:

The   Knowledgeable   Actor:How do Youtubeusers create, use, capture,organiseand share their videos on Youtube?

•Process  of  culture  formation•Interaction   with  online   tools

The Digital Space:In what ways does Youtube act as a collection ofmemories for anindividual and acommunity?

•Memory storage through storytelling andsharing•Youtube as legi timising agent f or sma llstories

Culture  in  the  Continuum:  Youtube,  small  stories  and  memory  making

Gi l l i land,  A.,  and  S.  McKemmis h.  2004.  Bui lding  an  Infrastruc ture  for  Arc h iv a l  Res earc h.  Arc hiv al  Sc ience  4  (3):149-­197.

Upward,  F.  (2005).  Continuum  mec hanics  and  memory  bank s  [Series  of  parts ]:  Part  1 :  Mul ti -­po lari ty.  Archives  and  Manus c rip ts ,  33 (1),  84-­109.  Retriev ed  Augus t  8 ,  2007,  from  Databas e  Aus tral ian  Public  Affa irs  Ful l  Text  databas e.  Upward,  F.  (2005).  Continuum  mec hanics  and  memory  bank s  [Series  of  two  parts ]  Part  2 :  The  making  of  c u l ture.  Arc hiv es  and  Manusc rip ts ,  33(2),  18-­51.  Retriev ed  Augus t  8 ,  2007,  from  Aus tral ian  Publ ic  Affa irs  Ful l  Tex t  databas e.  

How to understand and capture born digital information is the mostchallenging issue in archival science today. Therevolution ofdigital technologies allows everyone tocontribute,communicate, re-­inventand etch out spaces for personalidentity,community andvisualculture.The use ofonlinesocial media tools,often referred to asWeb 2.0,contributes to arich born digital cultural heritage, however, in archival science, a space and language for these cultural informationsystems does notexist.Within a history prestigious museumspaces and worship of the cultural artefact,online digitaltechnologiesof theeveryday arebeinglost to the ephemeral orumbrella-­edintoweb archiving.

Frank Upward’s Cultural Heritage Continuum model (figure 1), one of the array of information processing modelsdeveloped inrelationshipwith Monash University,provides an opportunity to develop a systems understanding about thiskind ofborn digital information. In Upward’s Continuum theory, the beginning and the end is the flicker, an instantwherecreativ itycan take hold.Understanding the flicker and the forms and spaces in which it lives is the key to understandinginformation capture,organisation andpluralisationin onlinedigital heritage.

Youtube, a vastuser-­generated repository ofdigital moving image material,provides an opportunity for scrutiny of theconstructand ongoing developmentof digital information in online spaces and the potential impact on cultural heritagepreservation. Identify ing Youtube as a website containing moving image ignores the complex information system thatcontribute to its existence as a space for cultural stories. The indiv idual Youtube user is where the flicker begins.Theactions of the user reveal the process ofcultural heritage formation through small stories and personalmemory making.This research investigates theuserin theContinuumof (born digital) Cultural Heritage.

The approach to researching thesespaces and their culturalcontent is multidisciplinary and necessarilycomplex.Withoutcurrent research in this field, threads ofconversation concerning the impactofdigital technology are found in the literatureof sociology,cultural and media theorists, as well as archival research. In addition, the application of the Continuummodels within the research is complex,with its inherentproperties of information processing used as both method andmethodology. In involv ing the models so deeply into methodology, theresearch, in a sense becomes a reflection of itselfby embedding and testing therecursivenatureof the construction ofknowledge.

Leisa  Gibbons,  Centre  for  Organisational  and  Social  Informatics,  CaSIT.  Supervisor,  Sue  McKemmish

Exploration  of  the  literature  reveals  lack……of  research  into  Web  2.0  applications  as  cultural  agents.

…of  archival  research  addressing  cultural  born  digital   material  in  preservation  strategies.

Development  of  a  methodology  model  to……embrace  a  multi-­‐‑disciplinary   approach  in   interpretivist    research.

…present  Continuum   thinking   in  knowledge  generation.  

Discover  and  interpret  cultural  agency  to…  …understand   how  Youtube   tools  contribute   to  content   sharing  and  communication.  

…define   what  types  and  styles  of  videos  are  being  made  on   Youtube.

Select  and  interview……Youtube   users  as  case  studies.

Grounded  theory  analysis  using……the  language   of  cultural  and  media   theory  models  and  research.

…the  Cultural   Heritage  Continuum   model.

Generate  theory……using  grounded   theory  method.

…from  theoretical  investigations.  

Test  theory……using  the   Cultural  Heritage  Continuum   model  

Figure 2

Exploration oftheoryhas expandedtheresearch intorich conceptsontimeand space:• Anthony Giddens’ StructurationTheory• Bergson’snon-­‐linear time• Deleuze&Guttari’s rhizomicsystemsof knowledge• Foucault’sheterotopias

Additionally , the lack of a languageto describeborn digital content found in new anddiverseonlinespacesprovides thedrivingforcebehind critically exploringtheories ofmediauseand evolution.

This research project travels a different path to current thinking about digitaltechnologies, preservation and archival science. By embracingContinuumtheory, thenature of what is known in the archival f ield about cultural heritage will befundamentallyaltered.

The influenceofthis research is farranging:• Institutionalpractices and worshipofthecultural artefact• Theory ofapost modern world withmultipleandequalpoints ofview• Applications in copyright withscopingalanguagefor borndigitalmaterial• Legaldefinitions ofborndigitalmaterial• Systems thinkingfor born digital culturalmaterial• Contributetothebuildinguseful cultural communication machines

Significant issuesarising frominitialanalysis:• Youtube is used as a storage facility.

• Once videos were uploaded, a sense of personal ownership was relinquished.

• The act of video making and high quality home storage reveals a strong influence forpersonal recordkeeping.

• Public exhibi tion an d feedback from other Yout ube users is often the primary inspiratio nto create videos in the first place.

• The abili ty to commun icate a poi nt o f view or an indivi dual passion is a strong push forstarting to contribute online.

• Interaction online provides context an d meaning to a Yout ube ident ity through vi deorecommendations, responses, comments and favouriting tools.

• Collaboration and development of onl ine relationships ‘offline’ contrib utes to a richeronline interactive experience.

User -­‐cont r ibut ed  m et adat a

Typology  of  website  tools  to  create,  define  and  communicate  identity.

Exper im ent s   wit h  f ilm   m aking

Or iginalTV   Shows( nar r at ive)

Skit s

Anim at ion  including  

claym at ion

Mashups

Am at eur  m us ic  per f orm ance

Lip   syncing  t o  copyr ight  m us ic

Clips   f r om  copyr ight  m at er ial

VlogsFan  f ilm s   us ing  am at eur act or s

Fan   f ic( t ion)

Hom e  video

Live   band  per f orm ances

( boot leg)

Fan   f ilm s   us ing  m ovie   im ages

Comm ent s  on   videos

Descr ipt ion  of  videos

Yout ube  nam e

Yout ubechannel  space

Response  videos

Video   collect ions  incl.  f avour it es

Or iginalShor t  f ilm( nar r at ive)

Or iginalTV   Shows

( non-­‐ nar r at ive)

Video communication types and styles

Text-­based communication tools

Web page building toolsFigure 3

Youtube

• Memory   and  technology• Agency  and  technology

Storytelling  

• Moving  image  communication• Online  spaces• Memory  making

Personal  recordkeeping

• Use  of  online  spaces• Time  and  memory

Figure 1

How  to  understand  Cultural  Heritage  formation  in  Web  2.0  spaces  using  Youtube?

How  to  understand  user  interaction  and  information  processing  through  using  Youtube?

The Bubble model(figure 2):• Is thediscourseanalysis.• Is an ideological, theoretical and philosophical frameworkfor research.• Shows deep understandings andlinkingofconcepts.• Represents timeand spacewherelayers ofmeaningarebuilt intoaframework.• Does not promotegeneralisation, butrather embraces complexity.• Provides aspacefor sourced conceptualmodels to beembedded in Continuumthinking.

Multi-disciplinary Research Research Findings: Case Studies

Research Findings: Youtube as Cultural Agent

Future Research Direction

References

Research Design

Methodology