Records Management, Participation and Authority in the Finnish UFO Research Association’s Archives in 2016 and 2018
Hänninen, Kirsi (2019-02-18)
Records Management, Participation and Authority in the Finnish UFO Research Association’s Archives in 2016 and 2018
(18.02.2019)
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
suljettu
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on:
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe201902205739
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe201902205739
Tiivistelmä
My thesis discusses the practices of a community archives maintained by the Finnish UFO Research Association (FUFORA). FUFORA’s archives collects, preserves and makes accessible records of a community that is based on the marginalized accounts of UFO sightings and other UFO experiences. First, I examine how a UFO sighting record is created and managed. Second, I study how people in different positions participate in the records management, and how authority is represented in those practices and eventual-ly in the records.
Research data for this thesis consists of two different sets of materials. I interviewed via e-mail four board members of FUFORA and asked them to tell me about the association and its archives. Then, I selected 80 records from FUFORA’s UFO sighting database for further examination: 40 records submitted in 2016 and another 40 submitted in 2018. I analyzed the reports and the comments in the researcher comment section and in the public comment section.
The UFO sighting records’ life cycle has phases that can be identified: People who wish to tell about their UFO sightings fill in a report form and submit it to FUFORA. The report is managed by the board of the association and the research manager. The research manager decides whether the report is added in the online database. In this archives, he is the gate keeper, aided by the board members and the UFO researchers. The researchers are the experts who investigate the report and then add their explanations and comments in the record. Finally, anyone interested in the reports of UFO sightings can add their comments. Participation means looking for explanations for the sighting and evaluating the information and the informant. The UFO sighting records do not lose their potential to be in active use, because anyone can return to investigate them any time. That way, the records’ life is more of a continuum than a cycle.
On the basis of analyzing the contents of the sighting reports and the comments of both the researchers and the public commentators, it can be concluded that the UFO community does not speak with one voice but with many dissonant voices. The UFO researchers who aim at science-oriented UFO research and who represent the institutional side of the association have the strongest voice.
Research data for this thesis consists of two different sets of materials. I interviewed via e-mail four board members of FUFORA and asked them to tell me about the association and its archives. Then, I selected 80 records from FUFORA’s UFO sighting database for further examination: 40 records submitted in 2016 and another 40 submitted in 2018. I analyzed the reports and the comments in the researcher comment section and in the public comment section.
The UFO sighting records’ life cycle has phases that can be identified: People who wish to tell about their UFO sightings fill in a report form and submit it to FUFORA. The report is managed by the board of the association and the research manager. The research manager decides whether the report is added in the online database. In this archives, he is the gate keeper, aided by the board members and the UFO researchers. The researchers are the experts who investigate the report and then add their explanations and comments in the record. Finally, anyone interested in the reports of UFO sightings can add their comments. Participation means looking for explanations for the sighting and evaluating the information and the informant. The UFO sighting records do not lose their potential to be in active use, because anyone can return to investigate them any time. That way, the records’ life is more of a continuum than a cycle.
On the basis of analyzing the contents of the sighting reports and the comments of both the researchers and the public commentators, it can be concluded that the UFO community does not speak with one voice but with many dissonant voices. The UFO researchers who aim at science-oriented UFO research and who represent the institutional side of the association have the strongest voice.