Shifting Ground: Digital Artefacts and Research Methods from the Daphne Mayo Collection
Kerri Klumpp (UQ)
Abstract: The Daphne Mayo Papers at the University of Queensland’s Fryer Library hold an art history treasure trove. The papers have provided source material for multiple blogs, book chapters, and research projects about Daphne Mayo, a sculptor renowned for her large-scale public artworks on friezes and tympanums in Brisbane and Sydney in the early-mid twentieth century. Containing correspondence, artworks, photographs, notebooks, and diaries, this collection provides a valuable insight into Mayo’s life as well as the context for her work.
Some of the material in the Mayo Papers has been digitised to enhance discovery and accessibility. However, as more digital tools for discovery and analysis become available, so do new ways of reading and connecting material for researchers. This presentation charts the shift in research approaches from the static to the dynamic and more speculative modes of working. It provides a case study into the past, present, and future digital adaptation of the Daphne Mayo Papers and the research that has been undertaken and could be undertaken in the future as these different digital outputs are made available.
About: Kerri has worked in academic libraries, archives, and special collections for most of her career. At universities in Melbourne and Brisbane, her librarian roles have seen her work with undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics, providing information support services for Art History related subjects. She currently works at The Fryer Library, a special collections library at The University of Queensland.
