A project of Harvard University’s Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, the Japan Disasters Digital Archive (JDA) is an evolving, collaborative space for citizens, researchers, students, and policy makers, as well as a site of shared memory for those most directly affected by these events. The digital archive is an advanced search engine for archived materials from all over the web, including websites, images, video, audio, news articles, individual testimonials, tweets, and other content, primarily from international partners who are building digital repositories about the disasters. The JDA not only facilitates searching of materials, but also allows users to create curated collections and interactive presentations on topics of interest to them. Collections and presentations can be shared publicly and enhance the value of the various items accessible through the archive. The archive also features an innovative map feature that visualizes all materials that are tagged with geographical information.
The JDA project relies on the support of partner organizations around the world to supply digital content.1 The JDA does not store copies of the data; rather, it seamlessly links to digital materials archived by partner projects, allowing users to search, view, and sort items across separate archives and collections in one interface. This page provides information on the general information of the project. For details on how to use the archive, please visit the guides under the "Explore" tab on the left navigation menu, starting with "Search the JDA." For details on how to contribute information to the archive, please visit "Contribute to the JDA."
1 Conceptual Diagram of the Japan Disasters Digital Archive Project
