Today i'll be presenting the following research at Kings

"Digital repatriation and the shift in ethnomusicological perspectives – How fieldwork-­institution-­repatriation processes can affect research methods in ethnomusicology"

In the transition to repatriation of fieldwork collections that are based on a more user-­driven digital future, methods of recording and the use of these materials in ethnomusicology are likely to change and have a greater impact on those who interact with them. The potential for user driven digital interactive and collaborative research and the availability of resources for studied cultural groups in ethnomusicology has been underemphasised in recent years.

Some outreach projects have been highlighted both online and offline as content has been disseminated carefully from holdings of archives to specific cultural groups with legally sensitive digital materials. The emergence of digital tools to share previously inaccessible knowledge and empower individual users has signalled a shift in how research may be perceived, facilitated and shared. By challenging attitudes towards traditional and current research methods in Ethnomusicology, focusing on issues relating to the problems with dissemination, and by examining how fieldwork can be shared using computational methods, I will explore the extent to which changes in practices within the discipline of Ethnomusicology can be delivered and how these changes come about in a digital context.

Patrick Egan