Reasons for reluctance

Why have anthropologists been reluctant to give their data to physical archives?

We do not have research that bears on this question. However, we felt that answers to this question would have important implications for understanding the need for AnthroDataDPA.

Some reasons that were suggested:

1. Some anthropologists think they will give up their ability to work on their data if they deposit it in an archive, however, they are not ready to stop working. Having a digital copy or access to it online will help enormously. It should increase physical preservation.

2. Some anthropologists do not think that archives provide enough access for their work—they would prefer digital access of some kind. While theoretically almost any scholar can go to an archive—it is expensive and time-consuming to go to an archive to do research.

3. Some scholars think they have to be famous for an institution to consider their collection. This is apparently not the case for the National Anthropological Archives. The director, Robert Leopold says that any collection of an anthropologist will be taken. However, perceptions have reality—if scholars believe this myth, they may not ask an archive to take their material.

4. Some simply do not want to face their mortality and do not think about the matter until it is too late.

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