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Archiving as knowledge production: Research practices at Salt
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2025
Abstract
This article provides a comprehensive review of Salt's approach to knowledge generation in art history, focusing on its role as a cultural institution in Turkey. The text explores the function of research institutions and the evolving role of archivists in preserving and disseminating knowledge to a broader user base. The paper examines the concept of the archive within the framework of transparency and contingency, specifically by reviewing chosen research and archival projects conducted by the institution. It elucidates diverse research methodologies employed in the analysis, representation, and availability of archival materials in these endeavors, underscoring the significance of user engagement in expanding knowledge.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright
- Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of ARLIS
References
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4. Salt is a not-for-profit cultural institution in public service, engaging in research, exhibitions, publications, web projects, conferences, and other public programs in Turkey. Salt's programs are distributed at Salt Galata and Salt Beyoğlu buildings in Istanbul. The institution works in the intersections of different disciplines such as visual practices, the built environment, social life, and economic history. See the institution's website: https://saltonline.org/en/home
5. Salt Research comprises a specialized library and an archive of physical and digital sources and documents on art, architecture and design, social life, and economic history. Focusing primarily on Turkey and its surrounding region, the archival collections at the institution encompass over 2,000,000 unique digitized resources. As part of a long-term commitment to digitizing resources at Salt Research, the institution makes documents and sources universally available via saltresearch.org. They are used under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
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23. See the e-publication It was a time of transformation (Istanbul: Salt, 2013), https://saltonline.org/media/files/it_was_a_time_of_conversation_scrd-1.pdf.