Mike Jones

Research Interests

Critical heritage, museum and archive studies Australian History Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, language and history Digital humanities

Dr Mike Jones

Senior Lecturer of Information Management

School of Computer Science and Information Technology

College of Engineering and Information Technology

Available For Media Comment.

Dr Mike Jones is an award-winning historian, archivist, researcher and consultant based in Naarm (Melbourne). For the past 18 years he has collaborated with governments, universities, community organisations, businesses and families on the development and delivery of digital, archival, collections, and public history projects. In addition to his role as Senior Lecturer of Information Management at Adelaide University, Mike is also Co-founder of The Primary Source History & Archives Consulting.

Mike's interdisciplinary research explores the history of collections-based knowledge, the history and practice of the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museum) sector, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections and histories, and the ways in which contemporary technologies contribute to developing and maintaining relationships within and between archives, collections, disciplines, and communities. He is particularly interested in the potential for this work to improve community wellbeing, foster social diversity and cohesion, and contribute to social justice.

Research expertise:

  • GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) history and practice
  • Collections documentation and digital collections management
  • Ethnographic collections and archives
  • First Nations collections and archives
  • Digital humanities
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history

Date Position Institution name
2026 - ongoing Co-Founder, Historian and Lead Archivist The Primary Source History & Archives Consulting

Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
2021 Award Mander Jones Award Australian Society of Archivists Australia -
2020 Research Award Alan Martin Award Australian Historical Association Australia -
2018 Award Best Paper Award: Best Paper of CIDOC 2018 Conference International Concil of Museums Documentation Committee Greece -

Date Institution name Country Title
2014 - 2018 University of Melbourne Australia PhD
2001 - 2002 University of Edinburgh United Kingdom Masters by Research (Art History)
1995 - 1999 University of Melbourne Australia BA (Hons)

Date Title Institution name Country
— Accredited Professional (ASAAP) Australian Society of Archivists -
— Accredited Professional Historian Professional Historians Association (Vic & Tas) -

Year Citation
2024 Jones, M., & Tropea, R. (2024). Two Sides of the Same Coin? Exploring the Relationship Between Archival Research and Practice. Archives and Manuscripts, 52(1), 3-11.
DOI
2024 Jones, M. (2024). Towards relational ethics: Foundational concepts for the shifting ground of GLAM. Humanities Research, XX(1), 29-46.
DOI
2024 Jones, M., Tropea, R., Barrowcliffe, R., Cameron, A., Freeman, E., Lowry, J., . . . Samaras, E. (2024). In Conversation: Research and Practice – A Conversation. Archives and Manuscripts, 52(1), 13-28.
DOI Scopus1
2024 Jones, M., & Piper, A. (2024). Digital History. Australian Historical Studies, 55(1), 178-203.
DOI Scopus7 WoS8
2024 Jones, M., Demb, S. R., & Nichols, C. A. (2024). Against Dismemberment: Relationality and the Re-membering of Documentary Heritage. International Journal of Documentary Heritage, 1(1), 2.
DOI
2024 Jones, M., & Taylor, R. (2024). Beyond access: (re)designing archival guides for changing landscapes. Archival Science, 24(2), 143-166.
DOI Scopus2 WoS1
2022 Jones, M. (2022). Emerging Technologies and Museums: Mediating Difficult Heritage. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HERITAGE STUDIES, 28(9), 1071-1072.
DOI
2022 Jones, M. (2022). Artefacts, Archives and Documentation in the Relational Museum. Aboriginal History Journal, 46, 111-113.
2021 Jones, M. (2021). The temple of history: historians and the sacralisation of archival work. History Australia, 18(4), 676-693.
DOI Scopus3
2021 Jones, M. (2021). Artefacts, Archives, and Documentation in the Relational Museum. Artefacts Archives and Documentation in the Relational Museum, 1-184.
DOI Scopus15
2021 Jones, M. (2021). Object/Art/Specimen at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. History Australia, 18(3), 607-609.
DOI Scopus1
2019 Jones, M. (2019). Collections in the expanded field: Relationality and the provenance of artefacts and archives. Heritage, 2(1), 884-897.
DOI Scopus9 WoS5
2018 Jones, M. (2018). From catalogues to contextual networks: reconfiguring collection documentation in museums. Archives and Records, 39(1), 4-20.
DOI Scopus13 WoS11
2017 Jones, M. (2017). From personal to public: field books, museums, and the opening of the archives. Archives and Records, 38(2), 212-227.
DOI Scopus8 WoS11
2017 Jones, M., Darian-Smith, K., Tout-Smith, D., & McCarthy, G. (2017). The dorothy howard collection: Revealing the structures of folklore archives in museums. Archives and Manuscripts, 45(2), 100-117.
DOI Scopus3 WoS1
2016 Jones, M. (2016). Archives Alive: Expanding Engagement with Public Library Archives and Special Collections. Archives and Manuscripts, 44(1), 49-50.
DOI
2016 Jones, M. (2016). Documenting things: bringing archival thinking to interdisciplinary collaborations. Australian Library Journal, 65(3), 213-223.
DOI Scopus5 WoS7
2016 Jones, M., & Vines, R. (2016). Cultivating capability: The socio-technical challenges of integrating approaches to records and knowledge management. Records Management Journal, 26(3), 242-258.
DOI Scopus5 WoS3
2015 Vines, R., Jones, M., & McCarthy, G. (2015). Collaborating across institutional and jurisdictional boundaries: Enabling the emergence of a national innovation system through public knowledge management. Knowledge Management Research and Practice, 13(2), 187-197.
DOI Scopus22 WoS19
2015 Jones, M. (2015). Innovation Study: Challenges and Opportunities for Australia's Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums. ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPTS, 43(2), 149-151.
DOI
2014 Mccarthy, G., Smith, A., & Jones, M. (2014). Looking beyond the archive: Utilizing encoded archival context in a broader societal context. Journal of Archival Organization, 12(1-2), 143-164.
DOI Scopus5
2014 Jones, M. (2014). Contrapuntal archival methods. Archives and Manuscripts, 42(2), 184-186.
DOI Scopus1 WoS2
2014 Jones, M., & O'Neill, C. (2014). Identity, records and archival evidence: exploring the needs of Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants. Archives and Records, 35(2), 110-125.
DOI Scopus18 WoS9
2013 Downing, M., Jones, M., Humphreys, C., McCarthy, G., O'Neill, C., & Tropea, R. (2013). An educative intervention: assisting in the self-assessment of archival practice in 12 community service organisations. Archives and Manuscripts, 41(2), 116-128.
DOI Scopus5 WoS4

Year Citation
2027 Jones, M., Lane, P., & Silverstein, B. (Eds.) (2027). Returns & Reconnections: engaging Indigenous and community relationships with the deep past. Bloomsbury.

Year Citation
2026 Verhoeven, D., Jones, M., Burrows, T., & Borda, A. (2026). 'Reproducibility and Contestation in Humanities Digital Infrastructure. In A. Liu, U. Pawlicka-Deger, & J. Smithies (Eds.), Critical Infrastructure Studies and Digital Humanities (pp. 199-215). University of Minnesota Press.
2025 Barrowcliffe, R., Booker, L., & Jones, M. (2025). The Right to Know. In The Indigenous Right of Reply to Archives (pp. 39-58). Routledge.
DOI
2024 Burrows, T., Verhoeven, D., & Jones, M. (2024). SELLING OUR SOUL (FOR TOTAL CONTROL)?: Linked Open Data and GLAM. In Routledge Companion to Libraries Archives and the Digital Humanities (pp. 187-203). Routledge.
DOI Scopus1
2018 Jones, M. (2018). Linking Items, Connecting Content: The Donald Thomson Collection. In C. M. Angel, & C. Fuchs (Eds.), ORGANIZATION, REPRESENTATION AND DESCRIPTION THROUGH THE DIGITAL AGE: INFORMATION IN LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES AND MUSEUMS (pp. 102-116). DE GRUYTER SAUR.
DOI WoS2

Mike is co-ordinating three subjects in 2026: Preserving Digital Collections; Preserving Non-Digital Collections; and Archival Professional Practice.

Date Role Committee Institution Country
2023 - ongoing Advisory Board Member ASSEMBLY Advisory Group Australian Museum and Galleries Association (AMaGA) Australia
2020 - 2025 Convener Research and Education Special Interest Group Australian Society of Archivists Australia

Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country
2026 - ongoing Board Member Archives and Manuscripts Australian Society of Archivists Australia
2018 - ongoing Board Member Provenance Public Record Office Victoria Australia

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