Documentation Lab is an informal group of archivists, educators, and memory workers sharing resources and experiences related to personal, family, and community archives.

Our 2022 workshops have been informed and made possible by the University of Pittsburgh’s Engaged Scholarship Development Initiative Summer Design Intensive. 

By convening community conversations and workshops, we hope to strengthen relationships between community-based archivists and memory workers and those employed in larger institutionsor enrolled in the Masters of Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh.


Documentation Lab supports archival work, but we aren’t an archives. We don’t collect materials or maintain collections. Our focus is on identifying and facilitating meaningful forms of support and connection for memory workers.

About Our Team

Chelsea Gunn is a teaching assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Computing and Information, where she teaches in the Master of Library and Information Science program.

Jane Thaler is a Ph.D candidate in Information Culture and Data Stewardship at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Computing and Information.

Mahogany Thaxton is a student in the Master of Library and Information Science program at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Computing and Information. Her focus area explores the value of librarianship and library skills within nonprofits and community archives and their unique needs for information and data organization.