This section includes highlighted papers written for the program.

Issue Paper — Deepfakes & the Battle Against Misinformation

Deepfake videos, or computer-generated synthetic videos, undermine authentic media by producing fake content, as well as calling into question the authenticity of legitimate materials. This rewriting of history particularly affects marginalized communities who often depend on video as evidence. This paper examines the history of deepfakes and the effect that inauthentic material has on the information world. The first portion of this paper explains what constitutes a deepfake video. The second part provides examples of deepfakes and their correlation to human rights violations, and the third portion discusses possible solutions through archival methods, technological practices, and government initiatives.  

MAjor paper — Assessing the Golden State Mutual Life Audio Collection

This report assesses the collection and preservation of audio materials created and collected by the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, a Black-founded and owned enterprise that originated in Los Angeles in 1925. The collection spans from 1909 to 2009 and primarily consists of documentation on Golden State Mutual’s corporate history and expansion, containing a wide range of various types of materials, from documents and pictures, to moving image and audio assets, including film, magnetic, optical, and grooved media.

Co-written with Dan Malloy.

Core Course paper — The Opioid Epidemic & Librarians as First Responders

This paper discusses the opioid epidemic and the ways in which librarians have attempted to tackle the issue. From homelessness to drug addiction, librarians often pick up the slack when the country’s cultural and societal infrastructure does not provide support. The first section of this paper will discuss the birth of the opioid epidemic and the effect of the War on Drugs. The second portion of the paper examines how this national crisis affects libraries, and third section discusses how librarians handle the issue, and the unexpected consequences that result from these aspects of their job.

Elective paper — Two-Inch Quad and the Challenges of Preservation

2-inch quadruplex videotape significantly changed television history as the first video format.Prior to 2-inch quad, programs were broadcasted live, unable to be saved and preserved on anything other than film. However, the reasons that made this video format so appealing, also makes the preservation of the recordings difficult today. This paper addresses how 2-inch quad revolutionized the television industry, and the challenges that archivists face today when working with the format.