University of North Texas 
Refugee families face a barrage of challenges upon entering the United States. A primary
obstacle to many refugees is a lack of access to vital records necessary to accessing
essential services and establishing their new lives in the United States. As they
are often displaced without their personal records, the already-challenging integration
into their lives in the United States can be made more difficult due to a lack of
records.
Records of Refuge: Supporting Refugee Communities' Archival Needs (RoR) is a three-year research project conducted by Dr. Ana Roeschley, an Assistant Professor and Director of Archival Studies in the Department of Information Science at the University of North Texas. Inspired by Roeschley's own experiences as a child refugee in the United States and her research on personal and participatory archiving practices, this project aims to close research gaps on the documentary and archival needs of refugees in the United States. Additionally, RoR serves as a crucial foundation for future work to implement new archival practices for refugee communities and the people who work with them. Using grounded theory and user-centered design approaches, data collection will occur through 20 focus groups with refugees and individuals who work with refugees and through an investigation of personal digital management software and archival repositories.
The project team is currently recruiting participants in the United States for focus groups with refugees and individuals who work with refugees. Do you identify as a refugee or a person who works or volunteers with refugees? And are you at least 18 years old?
If you answered “yes” to both of these questions, you are invited to participate in a research study conducted by the University of North Texas' Department of Information Science! The study, Records of Refuge: Supporting Refugee Communities' Archival Needs, examines how refugees in the US deal with their personal documents and family archives. You will be asked to participate in an in-person focus group discussion at a local library or community center meeting room about the personal documents and family archive needs of refugees in the United States. Participation is voluntary and will take an hour to two hours. Participants will be compensated with a Visa gift card.
There are no known risks associated with this research.
Records of Refuge is Supported by
