For this episode of Why We Collect, we talk with anthropologist Lauren Herckis about the concept of “meaningful archives.”

“In anthropology, in archeology, in archives, recognizing that interplay between the objects and the people and the stories and the power structures and the cultural fabric is at the heart of making meaning and making meaningful archives.”

We also talk about stuff. Things. You know, objects like the crown jewels, toothbrushes, and magic beans. Lauren shows us how the meaning of stuff changes based on context, and how meaning shifts depending on the values shared by a population at a given time.

On Why We Collect, we often speak to collectors about why they seek out and keep what they collect, but Lauren gives us some perspective for why all of us—the whole of past and present civilizations—value the objects that we make and preserve.

Lauren is part of Carnegie Mellon University’s Simon Initiative, University Libraries, and the Human-Computer Interaction Institute in the School of Computer Science. She studies how people use technology, how technology shapes culture, and how culture shapes technology.

Find out more about Lauren’s work on her website: https://lauher29.dreamhosters.com