HIV and AIDS Archives: recovering, re-presenting and exploring open digital
An IN-PERSON WORKSHOP at The National Archives
Monday, December 2 · 9:30am - 1pm GMT
The National Archives Bessant Drive Kew TW9 4DU United Kingdom
Please note registering for this event enters you into the application process only. You need to be 18 years or over to apply. You will receive a ticket confirmation via Eventbrite but this does not guarantee your place on the workshop. Successful applicants will be selected and contacted by 25 November separately.
The National Archives (TNA) holds an extensive collection of material related to the HIV and AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. This includes cabinet papers and records documenting the government response, public health campaigns and scientific research, and records connected with the many intersections between the government and governmental bodies and the spread and effects of the virus.
While most of these records are physical documents, some are available digitally and could be used for digital explorations and further research. Such is the case of the ‘1987 AIDS Advertising Evaluation Dataset’, a dataset produced at the time of the 1987 Public Health Campaign. Although available openly, exploring and working with this dataset can be challenging as it is in a format that is not easy to use.
Taking the 1987 AIDS Advertising Evaluation Dataset as a case study, the workshop is an opportunity to explore lesser known and accessible HIV material and to reflect on its relevance for interdisciplinary research.
During the workshop participants will have the opportunity to explore the dataset and interact with a notebook prepared by the TNA Digital Researcher Bernard Ogden. Although coding skills are not strictly required, a basic understanding of notebooks or Excel is desirable.
The workshop will be accompanied with talks by Professor Virginia Berridge and Professor Kaye Wellings, as well as by a records display organised by TNA staff.
As this is an onsite only event, places are limited and allocated following an expression of interest application.
Participants will be expected to cover their own travel costs to and from The National Archives (Kew, London) where the workshop will be taking place and bring their own laptop.
Coffee and lunch will be provided.
How to apply:
To apply for this workshop please click 'Register your interest', and input the relevant information. You will then be asked to answer the following question:
Please can you tell us what is your current field of work or research (digital humanities, medical humanities, social sciences, archives and collections, other) and why you are interested in taking part in the ‘HIV and AIDS Archives: Recovering, re-presenting and exploring open digital data’ workshop? (max 300 words)
If you would like time to think about your answer we suggest that you save the link, take your time to consider your answer and then return to register when you are ready
The deadline for applications is 6pm, November 20, 2024.Agenda
09:30-10:00 Registration
10:00-11:00 Talks
11:00-11:30 Break and document display
11:30-12:30 Hands-on workshop
12:30-12:45 Wrap-up
12:45 Lunch
HEC,HEA and NICE; trying to save HIV materials. Prof. Virginia Berridge, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Virginia Berridge is professor of History and Health Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. From the late 1980s until mid 1990’s she was Co-Director of the AIDS Social History Programme at the School. Her book AIDS in the UK: the making of policy 1981-1994 (Oxford UP 1996) was based on that work. She is currently deputy chair of the London Drugs Commission.
Monitoring response to HIV/AIDS public education campaigns: pitfalls and possibilities, Prof. Kaye Wellings, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Kaye Wellings is a leading expert in sexual and reproductive health. A professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, she has over 30 years’ experience in the field and over 300 academic publications. She founded the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles and carried out the first Global Study of Sexual Behaviour. Kaye is an elected fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, the Faculty ofSexual and Reproductive Health and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Academy of Social Sciences. She led the team evaluating the Health Education Authority’s HIV/AIDS Public Education campaigns in the late 1980s and went on to lead a programme of work evaluating AIDS Public Education in Eutrope, commissioned by the EU in the early 1990s.
Back to the raw material: Recovering, re-presenting and exploring interviewee responses to the survey of the effectiveness of the “Don’t Die of Ignorance” public health campaign, Bernard Ogden, Digital Researcher, The National Archives
Bernard Ogden is a Digital Research at The National Archives, working with a range of digital methods within various research projects. Among other things, he is interested in questions around robustness, reproducibility and usability in humanities datasets, and in how digital interfaces and data visualisations can be used to interrogate historical questions from new angles.
