Research on Jewish communities in the Caribbean requires locating and accessing material in libraries and archives in multiple countries, often written in multiple languages and alphabets. To name a few, this archival dispersion is due to historical, socio-economic, and political factors.

Expulsions, wars, and commerce have all played a role in the destruction or dispersal of archival material that can be used for researching these communities. Furthermore, by the end of colonial rule at different dates for each country, many archives were displaced (carried off) from their originating countries to archives in former colonial powers. Yet other records exist in archives in the US, and in Israel.

Today, this physical dispersion is complicated by the digital. Digitization has facilitated discovery and access, but dispersion persists. At the physical level, digitized material are hosted in different platforms, while at the intellectual level they are not contextualized through common description or federated retrieval systems.

Archival and library collections form the infrastructure for Digital Humanities work. They are the raw material from which we can extract the data that we need for this type of work. To further digital humanities projects on Caribbean Jewish Communities, how do we go about overcoming dispersion to create a cohesive understanding of the multiple pasts intersecting in the materials? What is the role of librarians and archivists in this process?

This short paper will start out by discussing the current landscape of archival material about these communities. It will continue by emphasizing ways that digital humanities scholars can build upon existing material. Finally, I will discuss opportunities for international collaborations that can enhance linking and searching the material. A focal point of the presentation will be the role of digital humanities approaches in mining archival material not simply for data, but for surfacing the multiplicity of voices hidden in them.

Dispersed, Displaced, Destroyed: Reconstructing a Digital Archival Infrastructure for the Study of Caribbean Jewish Communities

The international conference #DHJewish - Jewish Studies in the Digital Age will bring together more than 60 scholars and heritage practitioners to discuss how the digital turn affects the field of Jewish Studies. The conference is organised by the [Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH).](https://www.c2dh.uni.lu/) 

[For more information, and a PDF download of the program, please see also here.](https://www.c2dh.uni.lu/events/dhjewish-jewish-studies-digital-age) 



In order to meet other participants and for informal chats in the breaks, join us in our [wonder.me room](https://www.wonder.me/r?id=73a12756-8d93-4871-9374-143253bfbf59).