Dates:

1987-2026

Scope and content:

This series contains digital files created by Donna Haraway, including writings and publication files, research files, syllabi and teaching materials, saved email correspondence, administrative documents related to the University of California, Santa Cruz, conference and lecture materials, personal and biographical materials, and some professional and personal correspondence. Spanning several decades, these files offer insight into Haraway's intellectual pursuits, creative process, and scholarly engagements, with her digital archives—particularly files created after the 2010s—providing a more substantial record of her recent work-in-progress than her physical papers.

The majority of digital files date from approximately 2009 through 2018, though some materials originate as far back as the 1980s, and others were created as recently as 2026. Older digital files appear to have been migrated from earlier computer systems, with some showing signs of corruption or other digital artifacts indicative of their age. Email correspondence spans from July 1998 to October 2024.

Files related to Haraway's writing and research include numerous drafts and revisions of books, essays, and talks, some with editorial comments and annotations. Amongst these are publications such as Staying with the Trouble (2016) and The Companion Species Manifesto (2003). Also present are critical reviews, publicity materials, prize nominations, and publication contracts. Research files span a wide range of subjects, reflecting Haraway's interdisciplinary approach, including studies about permaculture and folders on immigration law, feminist theory, science fiction, Cat's Cradle string games, and Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. These research materials exist in various formats, including text documents, image files, and PDFs of articles and book chapters collected by Haraway.

Teaching files include course syllabi, assigned readings, slideshow presentations and notes, and administrative documents, primarily related to the History of Consciousness program at UC Santa Cruz. Also present are letters of recommendation written for former students and colleagues. Conference and lecture materials contain talk drafts, transcriptions of interviews, slideshow images, presentation notes, and event-related communication.

Haraway's correspondence is primarily contained in the Email subseries component of the digital files, with some correspondence interspersed throughout the rest of the digital files. The correspondence documents interactions with family members, friends, colleagues, students, and publishers. Conversations include discussions about book projects, invitations to lectures and conferences, and student requests for recommendations.

Personal and biographical materials include folders related to Haraway's home, garden, and animals—particularly her dogs—as well as photographs from family gatherings, vacations, and social events with friends and colleagues. Other personal files include bibliographies and CVs, hiking trail maps, and resources related to COVID-19.

Other digital files include materials sent to the UCSC Library by Haraway, including seminar files, CVs, and videos, as well as a recording of a 2025 panel event featuring Haraway and colleagues at the UCSC University Library.

File formats present in Haraway's digital files include Microsoft Word documents (.doc, .docx), Portable Document Format files (.pdf), Microsoft PowerPoint files (.ppt, .pptx), various image formats (.jpg, .tiff, .png), and video files (.mp4, .mov, .m4v). Each email message is in .pdf form, and .csv files show manifest lists of the messages and attachments in each email subfolder. The majority of files in this series are text documents and PDFs, with a smaller portion consisting of images and presentations. Video files occupy the most storage space in the collection.

Processing information:

The digital files in this series were processed by Annika Berry and Alix Norton in 2024-2026. Files were primarily transferred from Haraway's personal Macintosh computer hard drive (source_HD), digital media carriers (source_disks) donated alongside her physical papers, and her email client. The carriers include 14 3.5-inch floppy disks, 17 CDs, 8 DVDs, and one 8GB flash drive. Files from Haraway's hard drive were transferred to a Library server in May 2024 by Alix Norton, while files from the carriers were transferred in two stages, in 2018 by student assistants and in 2024 by Alix Norton. Dates may have been altered due to technology used to transfer and manage files, especially in the source_disks component. Other digital files include documents, videos, and seminar files emailed to the Library by Haraway. More information on the transfer and processing of email files can be found in the Email component of this series.

DataAccessioner v1.2 was used to capture digital files from the digital media carriers. Several tools supported file analysis: TreeSize Pro helped identify and remove exact duplicates, calculate file sizes, and locate personally identifiable information; DROID was used to detect extension mismatches; and manual file review (via MacOS Finder or Windows File Explorer, QuickView Plus, and Notepad) was conducted to identify out-of-scope materials and additional personally identifiable information.

Files containing personally identifiable information—such as social security numbers, bank account details, and account passwords—as well as confidential personnel records and private student files were deleted in accordance with UCSC Special Collections & Archives' privacy policy. Other files removed during processing included exact duplicates, system and temporary files, internet files, application files, drivers, and software installers, as well as MacOS-specific system files (e.g., thumbs.db, .DS_Store).

Compressed container files (e.g., .zip) were extracted and their contents saved, while the original compressed files were deleted. Empty folders were retained when files were removed. Duplicate files with different filenames were also removed, though researchers can request access to the duplicates log to locate retained versions.

Certain older files in unreadable formats were retained in the collection in the event that future technological advancements enable access; some files have unknown file types or extensions and may not be accessible. Four 3.5-inch floppy disks could not be transferred due to technological constraints; these original disks were retained in the collection along with the other digital media carriers, with the exception of Haraway's personal computer hard drive which was not transferred to the Library. Files were not reformatted, and file names are original to the creator, with the exception of some characters (including [ ] . $ • &) which were replaced with an underscore (_) during processing.

Arrangement:

The Digital files series includes three subseries: Computer and disk files, Email, and Other digital files. These subseries correspond to the sources of the digital files: files from Haraway's personal computer and digital media carriers, files from Haraway's email client, and files sent to or created by the UCSC Library, respectively.

The Computer and disk files subseries contains materials from Haraway's personal computer hard drive (source_HD) and digital media carriers (source_disks). The bulk of Haraway's digital files originates from her desktop computer hard drive in the source_HD component, which she organized into folders with subject labels such as "Art," "Books," "Professional," and "Work in Prgrss" [sic]. The original order of this file directory has been maintained without intervention by archives staff. Haraway named many files using shorthand or abbreviations, often omitting vowels. Original file names were maintained with the exception of the removal of some characters for file preservation purposes. In the source_disks component, files are arranged by identification number (e.g. ua0042_med_0001) assigned by archives staff upon capture of the digital files from the original digital media carriers.

The Email subseries contains a selection of Haraway's saved email correspondence, organized in subfolders following her original arrangement in her email client, Apple Mail. See the Email subseries for more information on its arrangement.

The Other digital files subseries primarily contains files sent to the UCSC Library by Haraway.

Physical / technical requirements:

Access to the born digital materials of the Donna Haraway Papers is available on-site in the UCSC Special Collections & Archives reading room. The software application QuickView Plus is recommended for reading and viewing, and is provided for use in the reading room. Note that some files stored may be inaccessible due to obsolete formats, lack of required software, or file degradation.

Physical description:

70.2 GB, 161,959 digital files

Additional collection guides:

For a file directory inventory of the contents of Series 7: Digital files, see the following guide: Series 7: Digital files

Contents

Access and use