User Roles

Please note that you can have more than one role.

 

General User: Browse, Participate, and Engage 

  • Browse: Browse the site for topics that interest you and explore topics that you are not familiar with. 

 

  • Flag: Flag racist, sexist, transphobic, or homophobic language that could or would offend other users. When flagging be sure to check all the tags that apply to a card to help the Archive's search function become more precise.

 

  • Comment: If you have experiences that might lend insight to the Archive's content or have questions about content, please leave comments on data points that pique your interest. 

 

Healer: Contribute Your Expertise

  • Browse: Browse the Archive of Healing™ for topics related to your practice.

 

  • Flag: Flag site content that could or would offend other users or endanger general users should they apply suggested remedies at home.

 

  • Comment: Channel your knowledge of different healing modalities into the comment sections available on each data point. Please share your background and insights to enrich our healing community. 

 

Researcher: Utilize Archive Data for Your Work and Inform Data Context

  • Browse: Browse the site for information on the history, geography, and language of healing as it pertains to your study. Research users may have access to more sensitive information, which could include derogatory language, stereotypes, or the like; this information is provided to Research users because it might facilitate a fuller picture of the topic.

 

  • Flag: Mark material/data for which you'd like an improved citation.

 

  • Comment: Comment or ask questions surrounding the history of each data point and/or contribute historical or geographical context behind data points as you recognize them within your field(s) of expertise. 

 

Card Reviewer: Refine Data and Search Functions (Coming Soon!)

  • Browse: Indulge your curiosity on topics of interest and explore topics that you are not familiar with.

 

  • Flag: Flag potentially offensive user comments or data points that could use improved source references or language revisions.

 

  • Comment: Participate in community-enhancing discourse by engaging with other users through written forums available for each data point.

 

  • Edit: Eliminate typos and add images to card from your own files or online stock photos. When editing, please be sure to list photos credits.

 

Advisory Board Member: Engage with Content, Review User Participation, and Confer About the Archive's Future Directions

  • Browse: Indulge your curiosity in topics relevant to your fields of interest.

 

  • Review: Determine whether or not user flags warrant card revision or removal.

 

  • Comment: Participate in user-friendly discourse surrounding data points.

 

  • Advise: Make high-level decisions about future directions of the Archive of Healing™.

 

COMMENTING (Coming Soon!)

Please help our community grow by commenting on our data points.

Perhaps you're a healer who can provide testimony/ies related to how you've utilized the content of a data point, or how a data point's content compares/contrasts with modalities used in your practice; a scholar who has done research on related regions/topics and has cross-cultural comparisons to share; or a general user who has questions about the data's origins, or who has seen iterations of a listed healing method in your own familial/social circles. We envision the Archive of Healing™ as an interactive archival space designed for knowledge sharing across cultures. 

Users of all backgrounds might surprise themselves by how they can contribute to knowledge co-production and data contextualization. Your comments, informed by unique training and/or personal experiences, can inspire discussion between users! Comment liberally and respectfully. Your mindful engagement will help grow the Archive of Healing as an international community serving grassroots discourse on global wellness.

Please see the following examples for how commenting platforms might be used. 

 

Example 1: Share your experience(s) about efficacy

  • Card Title: Indigestion
  • Data point: “Indigestion: The root of the Trumpet plant is chewed to relieve indigestion.”
  • RID: 200022
    • User comment: “I have a trumpet plant in my backyard! As someone who frequently suffers indigestion and prefers natural medicine, I’ll look into the research behind this suggestion, try it out, and report back.”
    • User comment: “This is my first time hearing of the health benefits of the trumpet plant, but it seems naturopaths at global conferences have come to consensus on the digestive benefits of turmeric. On the island of Lembata, Indonesia, where I conduct my dissertation research, Pak Koban (a convenience shop owner, friend, healer, and host) advises to consume raw turmeric when suffering any form of stomach pain or bloating. He insists that the ball/knuckle of a turmeric root is most effective in curing stomach inflammation.” 
    • User comment: “In my experience as a naturopath, any part of the turmeric root (not just the ball) might be used to reduce indigestion.”
      • *Click the “add comment” link at the base of the comment thread to partake in discussion on this data point. 

Example 2: Pose a question about context 

  • Card Title: Possession
  • RID: 146785
  • Data point: “Hysteria and epilepsy account for practically all cases of possession. Mental suggestion plants an enormous part on the cures as well as the sickness. Perfectly healthy persons who discover that evil sorcery is being worked against them have been known to sicken and die within a few days, so strong was the influence of suggestion.”
    • User comment: “I’m interested that the citation for this data point has no further commentary on where these cases of possession take place. I’m also confused about the archivist’s interpretation of possession/sorcery due to the confusing way in which this data point is phrased. Does Forest E. Clements suggest that possession leads to epilepsy; or is he suggesting, as many American archivists projected during the time this archive was published (1930s), that what “primitive” populations consider to be sorcery is actually what Western physicians diagnose as hysteria or epilepsy? I currently know of possession as a possible cause for epilepsy in both Kumasi, Ghana and La Paz, Bolivia."

Please keep your comments related in some way to the data relayed on your chosen card(s); these commenting forums as spaces for intellectual exchange only. Any commenter who abuses the space by soliciting businesses will have their account removed. 

CARD REVIEWING (Coming Soon!)

  1. To edit a card, click the bottom-facing arrow in the upper right corner of the card to release the drop-down menu.
  2. Click on the the row identification number (RID) written in green; this will bring you to a new page with a highlighted tab labeled "View" in the upper left corner of the page.
  3. Click on the "Edit" tab to the right of the "View" tab; This will bring you to the editing portal.
  4. In the editing portal, you will see a number of text boxes with content available for revision. Only revise if you feel it will not affect the authenticity of the data. Examples of appropriate revisions are removing derogatory language or fixing typos. You may change the title of a card if it improves the card's searchability.
    • Please upload a Google photo or one of your own photos to serve as a visual aid alongside the card content. Be sure to describe any images you upload in the box labeled "alt text" (which increases user accessibility) and give photo credits wherever due.
    • In the list of detail-oriented text boxes under "Card Text," feel free to insert information about the collector or content origin, as it might be hinted at in the card's citation
    • Tag all categories you feel apply to the content of the card; this is critical for improving the organization and search functions of the Archive. 
    • Apply the "warning" designation sparingly. Any card with "warning" selected will obscure the card content with a standard warning pop-up, which will ask users to consent to reading potentially sensitive content. 
  5. Please do not forget to share your reasons for revisions/additions in the "revision log message" text box on the right side of the editing portal. These notes can be brief, but please be specific. Your contributions will not be implemented should you leave this box empty. Administrators appreciate the thought put into your revision suggestions.

 

FLAGGING 

Please consider that the Archive's purpose is to showcase healing modalities with as little cultural bias as possible. This means that the knowledge available here may in conflict with your own cultural perspectives; validity is not universal. We encourage you to acknowledge context-specific verbiage without judgement and focus more on the safety of the information when choosing to flag it for sensitive content. The flagging function is essential to the Archive's current and future navigability. 

We would like to reiterate the importance of the flagging process, as the Archive's success depends on the users' ability to work collectively to safely advance knowledge around diverse healing modalities. General users should always flag racist, sexist, transphobic, and homophobic language. While some of this language may appear to users registered as researchers (for educational and historical purposes only), harmful language has no place in sections dedicated to general users. If a user flags a result as being inappropriate or dangerous and the advisory board deems it safe, the flag color will change to green, indicating that the data has passed formal review.