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From Oral History to Anthro-Digital Narratives (ADN): Reimagining Community Archives Through Creative Practice, Digital Humanities and Ethical AI
- Michele McClarren
- Jul 7
- 5 min read
Community Archives & Heritage Group (CAHG) Conference
Wednesday 8 July 2026
📍UCL, Roberts Building Foyer and Ambrose Fleming Lecture Theatre, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT
Speaker: Michi Masumi, BA, MA
Founder, The Black Art Hub CIC & The Benjamin Zephaniah Library & Archive (TBZLA)
PhD Researcher, Canterbury Christ Church University
A Different Way of Thinking About Archives
When we think about archives, many of us imagine shelves filled with boxes, photographs, letters and official records. These collections are invaluable, but they are only one part of the story.
Communities also preserve their histories through photographs stored on mobile phones, voice notes, oral histories, poetry, artwork, performances, family memories and digital creations. These born-digital materials are increasingly becoming part of our collective cultural heritage.
At the Community Archives & Oral History Conference at University College London (UCL), I will be sharing how my doctoral research explores new ways of documenting, preserving and sharing Black British cultural heritage through an original methodology that combines oral history, digital humanities, creative practice and ethical artificial intelligence (AI).
My presentation is titled:
From Oral History to Anthro-Digital Narratives (ADN): Reimagining Community Archives Through Creative Practice, Digital Humanities and Ethical AI
Why This Research Matters
Black British history has contributed enormously to the social, political, artistic and cultural development of the United Kingdom.
Yet authentic representations of Black British lived experience continue to be under-represented across both physical archives and digital spaces.
Many stories remain undocumented.
Others are difficult to discover.
Some have never been collected at all.
As AI increasingly shapes how people search for information, discover knowledge and learn about history, these gaps become even more significant.
If communities are missing from today's archives, they are also more likely to be missing from tomorrow's AI systems.
My research asks an important question:
How can communities become active creators—not simply subjects—of their own digital heritage?
Introducing Anthro-Digital Narratives (ADN)
One of the central contributions of my PhD is the development of Anthro-Digital Narratives (ADN).
Rather than treating oral histories, photography, poetry and digital media as separate disciplines, ADN combines them into a single community-centred methodology.
It draws together:
Digital Anthropology
Autoethnography
Ethnography
Oral History
Archival Photography
Sonic Poetry
Digital Humanities
Creative Practice
Ethical AI
The result is a living approach to documenting cultural heritage that places communities at the centre of their own narratives.
Presentation Highlights
Throughout the presentation I demonstrate how this methodology works in practice.
Slide 4 — Why Representation Matters
One of the early themes explored is the continued under-representation of Black British cultural heritage in both physical and digital environments.
Rather than simply documenting this challenge, the presentation asks how communities can actively reshape their own narratives through community-led documentation, digital archives and creative storytelling.
Slides 6–9 — Community Archives Through Creative Practice
Photography, oral history and sonic poetry become research methods rather than simply artistic outputs.
The presentation demonstrates how:
archival photography captures lived experience
oral history preserves memory
poetry records emotional truth
AI assists—not replaces—the creative process
Together these become multiple forms of cultural documentation.
Slides 10–13 — Digital Humanities in Action
Digital humanities are often discussed in terms of technology.
My work instead focuses on people.
These slides demonstrate how websites, online archives, YouTube, podcasts and digital exhibitions can improve:
accessibility
discoverability
community participation
public engagement
long-term preservation
Digital platforms become extensions of community archives rather than replacements for them.
Slides 14–16 — Archiving Born-Digital Heritage
Much of today's cultural heritage is created digitally from the beginning.
Examples include:
digital photography
AI-assisted artwork
spoken word recordings
podcasts
sonic poetry
online exhibitions
websites
These materials deserve the same preservation standards as traditional archival collections.
The presentation explores practical workflows using:
Dublin Core Metadata
archival cataloguing
digital preservation
sustainable digital storage
to ensure these materials remain accessible for future generations.
Slide 17 — Accessibility Through Sonic Poetry
Accessibility is not simply about making information available.
It is about creating multiple ways for people to experience knowledge.
As a neurodivergent researcher, my own lived experiences helped shape this part of the research.
Reading large volumes of text can be difficult.
Through exploring AI-assisted creative technologies alongside sonic poetry, I discovered ways of making archival material more accessible not only for me, but for many others.
The presentation discusses how sonic poetry may support engagement for people experiencing the following:
autism
ADHD
dyslexia
sight impairment
dementia
menopause-related brain fog
cognitive overload
English as an additional language
Accessibility becomes part of archival practice rather than something added afterwards.
Slide 18 — UNESCO Article 15
The presentation links directly to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003).
Article 15 reminds us that communities must participate in safeguarding their own heritage.
This principle sits at the heart of my research.
Communities are not passive contributors.
They are:
researchers
creators
archivists
storytellers
decision-makers
Slides 19–21 — Community Impact
The final section demonstrates how ADN creates practical community benefits.
These include:
increased visibility of Black British heritage
improved digital accessibility
stronger community ownership
youth engagement
ethical AI practice
sustainable digital preservation
The work moves beyond documentation towards active cultural participation.
Filling an Important Gap
Current archival practice has developed excellent standards for preserving physical collections.
However, there remains a significant gap around preserving born-digital creative heritage produced by communities themselves.
There is also limited research bringing together:
Digital Humanities
Oral History
Creative Practice
Community Archives
Ethical AI
Black British Studies within one practical methodology.
Anthro-Digital Narratives (ADN) seeks to contribute to this emerging area by demonstrating how these disciplines can work together.
AI, Bias and Community Archives
Artificial intelligence is becoming part of everyday research.
However, AI learns from existing information.
If Black British cultural heritage is under-represented online, AI has fewer authentic sources from which to learn.
This can unintentionally reinforce existing inequalities by making some histories easier to discover than others.
Creating ethical, community-led digital archives today helps improve the quality of cultural data available for future generations—and for future AI systems.
Looking Forward
One of the most rewarding aspects of attending conferences like this is the opportunity to learn from others.
Community archives have always grown through collaboration.
I would particularly welcome conversations around:
community archiving
oral history methodologies
born-digital heritage
Digital Humanities
ethical AI
Black British cultural heritage
participatory archives
creative research methods
accessibility
digital preservation
metadata
collaborative exhibitions
oral history collections
interdisciplinary research
Whether your work focuses on local history, museums, libraries, archives, education or community engagement, I believe there are exciting opportunities to collaborate and learn from one another.
About My Research
My doctoral research at Canterbury Christ Church University explores the intersection of:
Art
Activism
Aesthetics
Artificial Intelligence
through Black British women's lived experiences.
Alongside my PhD, I am the founder of the following:
The Black Art Hub CIC
The Benjamin Zephaniah Library & Archive (TBZLA)
where I continue developing community-led approaches to cultural heritage, oral history, digital archiving and public engagement.
Let's Continue the Conversation
If you attended the presentation—or if you have found this blog through our online library—I would be delighted to continue the conversation.
I am particularly interested in collaborative opportunities involving:
Community Archives
Oral History
Black British Cultural Heritage
Digital Humanities
Ethical AI
Born-Digital Heritage
Accessibility
Digital Preservation
Community Research
Creative Practice
Contact
Until January 2027 (Canterbury Christ Church University):📧 mm1938@canterbury.ac.uk
Archives are more than collections.
They are relationships.
They connect memory with identity, communities with history, and past experiences with future generations.
As I often say throughout my research:
We Are the Archive.
We Are the Data.
We Are the Designers.
I hope this presentation encourages further conversations about how community archives, oral history, creative practice and ethical AI can work together to create more inclusive, accessible and sustainable futures for cultural heritage.
M x
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