Are Collections Scholarly Outputs? Re-defining Research Quality and Impact of Cultural Performative Findings

Abstract

The paper explores user-centred cultural heritage collections which are rooted in community life and scholarship, and searches for new terminology and rationale to define them as research outputs first by examining notions of content and quality according to current ARC definitions and ERA categories of research outputs. Considering the performative paradigm as an opportunity to re-define knowledge that is not numerically or textually encoded but contains performative signs incorporated into captured cultural records through audio and/or audiovisual mediums, the paper proposes that the performative paradigm allows scholars to view performative signs not as mere data or by-products of their research but as a wealth of performative evidence that complements quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies and therefore is an integral part of their scholarly outputs. This implies the need for consolidation of the close collaborative processes between scholars, community members and information professionals, and further development of databases such as PARADISEC and AusLit to enhance discovery, description and citation of audio-visual materials while at the same time hosting hybrid online journals that publish text-based exegeses with the capacity to link to specific portions of cultural heritage content. Lastly, the paper discusses the assessment and measurement of research impact which will be the new focus of government assessment exercises, highlighting the advantage of cultural heritage knowledge banks due to their digital accessibility and potential for a variety of citation statistics that enable assessment of both quality and impact.