Sharing knowledge through anthropological archives of the Bancroft library: a research note on Curt Nimendaju and Robert Lowie

Abstract

The anthropological legacy of the German-Brazilian researcher Curt Unckel Nimuendaju (1883-1945) has been the subject of many reflections in the last decade. His works were developed in dozens of indigenous tribes and imply a broader network, involving Brazilian and international institutions. In this short text, I would like to present some notes about Curt Nimuendaju and Robert Lowie (1883-1958) partnership. It came from the post-doctoral research entitled “From the urban institutions to the electronic sites: an ethnography of photographic collections and anthropological archives in Berkeley”. A general question guided it: how can we reflect upon the processes of digitization of anthropological images and archives, their conditions of use and online availability, ethical issues, policies, and potentialities of its contemporary uses? Another correlated question is about how archive collections were formed and managed throughout the time?

Keywords

• research notes