Extension
We are happy to announce that the OsloMet part of the project has been extended out 2023. News about the project is primarily published on PICCH’s main website
PICCH – Polyvocal Interpretations of Contested Colonial Heritage
Many memory institutions across Europe contain holdings connected with its colonial past which for many years has been a focus of contestation from both communities of origin, ethnic minorities and civil society at large. Challenging questions are being asked by professionals in the field as to what to do with this problematic cultural heritage, from returning items when appropriate, to rewriting the historical context surrounding them in a more critical and inclusive way. This project aims to identify key instances of colonial audio-visual heritage across the three archives involved, draw a common map of shared racialised representations connected with their respective imperial contexts, identify problematic visualisation and language and open up a dialogue between the archives and a variety of users, including archivists, researchers, filmmakers, and grassroots organisations.
The digitised colonial audio-visual heritage is provided by three national archives: The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, the French Institut national de l’audiovisuel and Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, UK. All these archives have a rich collection of original film and sound, some of it produced at the height of empire, ranging from ethnographers’ footage for ‘educational’ purposes to more direct propaganda films to bolster colonial ideologies. We will explore how archival material created in a ‘colonial mindset’ can be re-appropriated and re-interpreted critically to become an effective source for the ‘decolonization of the mind’ and the basis for a future inclusive society.
The overall outcome of PICCH is to engender a polyvocality that can be incorporated into the archive itself providing new ways to enter and explore the past via a contemporary interpretative frame. To this effect advanced technologies will be used to study how to bridge archival and contemporary languages, and to support transnational exploration of multiple archives via a single interactive user interface.
Senior researcher in interactive information retrieval (position is filled)
The PICCH project at The Department of Archivistics, Library and Information Science at Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet) invites applications to a position as senior researcher in interactive information retrieval (IIR) with emphasis on user studies. The position is a 1-year research position with no teaching obligations. The position requires an immediate start, or at earliest possible convenience, preferable medio May. The senior researcher is to join a local research team consisting of the professors Pia Borlund and Nils Pharo as part of an international EU research project with partners from England, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands, in addition to OsloMet, Norway. The position is funded by the Research Council of Norway.
The research project aims to identify key instances of colonial audio-visual heritage across the three archives involved, draw a common map of shared representations connected with their respective imperial contexts, identify problematic visualisation and language and open up a dialogue between the archives and a variety of users, including archivists, researchers, filmmakers, and grassroots organisations. The digitised colonial audio-visual heritage is provided by three national archives: The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, the French Institut national de l’audiovisuel and Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, UK. The task of the senior researcher is to conduct user studies on information needs and information searching of the three archives in question.
Profile
We are looking for a person with a PhD and expertise in IIR and experience in test design and user studies of information searching. The test designs and methodologies of the various studies will be designed in joint collaboration with the professors Borlund and Pharo, but the senior researcher will be the one to independently carry out the actual studies in the Netherlands, France or UK. Further, the senior researcher is to code the data, prepare it for analysis and analyse the data before co-authoring reports and scientific publications for dissemination of findings.
Tasks and responsibilities
- Design study methodologies for data collection in collaboration with local team
- Independently conduct studies and carry out data collection abroad
- Code and analyse collected data
- Co-author results and findings with the local team
Qualification requirements
You must have:
- PhD in Information Science, Computer Science or related area
- Expertise in interactive information retrieval (IIR)
- Experience with user studies of information searching
- Knowledge about metadata, the concept of information need, the concept of relevance, user studies, test design, IIR methods and methodologies, data coding, and analysis of empirical user data
The ideal candidate has excellent skills in English and at least in one of the following languages: Dutch or French.
Contact information
If this sounds interesting, we are happy to meet on Zoom and talk about the project and the vacant position. Please send us an email and we will arrange the meeting when suitable.
- Professor Pia Borlund, e-mail: borlund@oslomet.no
- Professor Nils Pharo, e-mail: pharo@oslomet.no
Period for Zoom meeting: March 8 – 12, 2021
Deadline for applications: March 22, 2021.
How to apply:
Please submit a two-pages application that introduces you, your research expertise, research experiences and your interest in this project. In addition, supply the following documentation:
- CV
- Full list of publications
- Copy of PhD diploma
The application is to be send by e-mail with subject heading “PICCH application” to nils.pharo@oslomet.no.