Our Archival Values

In the spirit of values-led design, the team developed a set of values to inform the development of this collection. These values are as follows:

We value respect. The curatorial decisions made by the project team reflect a desire to honour the life of Ruth Gorman, while also respecting her humanity and the lives and perspectives of those with whom she worked and interacted. 

We value open communication. Should you have any questions, concerns, or notice any errors or omissions, please contact the Thomas A. Edge Archives & Special Collections.

We value trust. The team acknowledges that communication is a path towards trust, and recognizes the necessity of building a relationship of trust between archival institutions and their communities. The team has attempted to contribute to this development of trust by providing information about the team’s values and decision-making.

We value transparency. The team recognizes that the perspectives and intersectionalities of its members have shaped our interpretations of the records in ways both understood and unintentional. This variety of beliefs, life experiences, political views and values have shaped how the Ruth Gorman Curated Archive has been presented, as well as our understanding of Ruth Gorman’s life and work. The team has approached this collection development with the intention of purposeful inclusion, rather than a desire to categorize all records, balanced with a desire to provide access to a variety of documents highlighting as much of Gorman’s life and work as possible.

We value an ethic of care. Some records within the Ruth Gorman Curated Archive contain culturally sensitive content or outdated language. The team has attempted to mitigate harm through the use of subject tags, a note to visitors on the Welcome page, and through the website footer.

We value accessibility. Where possible, the Ruth Gorman Curated Archive has been developed with accessibility in mind, such as the use of alt text. The team recognizes that further work in this area is needed to ensure that the website is machine readable.