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Framing AO3 as a community archive highlights fan archiving as cultural practice and explores how participatory, liberatory memory work centers community history and challenges dominant narratives. The paper examines user-generated tagging, volunteer tag wrangling, and metadata practices that make users active archivists, while discussing representation, digitization barriers, and inclusion needs.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/archive-of-our-own-as-a-community-archive-how-ao3-functions-and-what-we-can-learn/135253/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/archive-of-our-own-as-a-community-archive-how-ao3-functions-and-what-we-can-learn/135253.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Rhys","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-18","2026-08-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",16,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How does AO3 function as a community archive?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"AO3 houses fanworks and treats archiving as a valuable cultural practice. It relies on participatory structures where users help create history through community-centered formatting, navigation, tags, and search.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"What role do users play in archival work on AO3?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"AO3 users act as archivists through user-generated tagging and metadata entry. Volunteer tag wranglers group tags into canonical tags so the archive remains searchable and functional.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"What can traditional archives learn from AO3?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"The document argues traditional institutions can benefit from digital reach and flexible curation, but also from stronger interaction between institutions and the communities whose histories they document. It highlights the importance of representation, active participation, and adaptability.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},135253,1787308124,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":8,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":130,"read_time":81},687207024643,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN AS A COMMUNITY ARCHIVE  \nHow does AO3 function as a community archive  \nand what can we learn from this understanding of the platform?  \nIntroduction to AO3  \nArchive of Our Own (AO3) is a digital archive that houses fanworks . The platform is a project run by the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) and as of August 2025 , hosts more than 15 .5 million works and 8 .9 million users .  \nIn thinking about AO3 as a community archive , we recognize the work of archiving fanworks as a valuable cultural practice and interrogate where the platform and more traditional archival institutions can learn from each other .  \nCommunity Archives  \nCommunity archives represent a deviation in traditional archiving practices , focusing on the history and culture of a community and centering the people of that community in their work . The power of seeing oneself and one ’s history depicted and respected in an institutional space can be powerful , especially marginalized populations (Caswell , 2020) .  \nLiberatory memory work allows community archives to represent their own understanding of time and their  \nhistory to push back against dominant narrativesand hierarchies (UCLA Community Archives Lab , n .d .) .  \nParticipatory archiving allows community members to work with archivists and historians to document their community history and build an archive . Community members learn archival practices to create a record of their activities as a group (“What is Participatory Archiving?”, n .d .) .  \nF d C it ( td )  \nan om as ommun y c .  \nIf AO3 is a community archive, fandom is their community . Unlike the communities represented by most community archives, however, fandom is a massive, sprawling thing, spanning millions of people, from all over the world .  \n.  \nA recent unofficial study of the site’s demographics  \nhighlights the diversity of such a large population . Notably, many of AO3's users are queer, neurodiverse, female, and do not speak English as a first language (centreoftheselights, 1 Dec . 2024) . Also of note in the survey’s findings is the lack of racial diversity . This highlights an ongoing struggle against racism for AO3 and fandom as a whole .  \nUsers as Archivists  \nOne of the most unique features of AO3 as an archive is its user-generated tagging practices . AO3 's users are the site ’s archivists . They are responsible for the creation and continuation of their history . It is organized for the community , by the community , in true participatory archiving practice .  \nUsers ’ personalized tags are balanced with the site ’s administrative practices . Volunteer tag wranglers work to group commonly used tags together into canonical tags . Canonical tags can be searched for and filtered from search results , allowing users to impact the design and functionality  \nof the site built to serve them .  \nLearning From the Archive  \nAO3 integrates users into archival work through the formatting of the website , a callback to earlier days of the Internet ’s Do-It-Yourself aesthetic . Users can navigate the site using tags and a search engine . Posting directs them to a form for filling in the necessary and applicable metadata . This collaborative practice allows the Archive to fulfill its namesake , by becoming an archive created and defined by its users .  \nMany community archives face difficulties digitizing their works and connecting with their community online (Caswell , 2018) . Traditional archives also have trouble recruiting members of marginalized communities as users or organizational members . AO3 is naturally more diverse though there are ways that the organization could become more inclusive .  \nConclusion  \nAO3 is not a perfect platform or a static entity , rather it is perpetually in beta ; making changes , fixing bugs , and adapting to the needs of their community . One crucial area of improvement lies in the platform ’s inclusion of black users , listening to their needs and making changes to ","cbCaikkXzJz99SWk","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikkXzJz99SWk","pdf",520424,"English","# Introduction to AO3\n## Community Archives\n## Users as Archivists\n## Learning From the Archive\n## Conclusion","[{\"question\":\"How does AO3 function as a community archive?\",\"answer\":\"AO3 houses fanworks and treats archiving as a valuable cultural practice. It relies on participatory structures where users help create history through community-centered formatting, navigation, tags, and search.\"},{\"question\":\"What role do users play in archival work on AO3?\",\"answer\":\"AO3 users act as archivists through user-generated tagging and metadata entry. Volunteer tag wranglers group tags into canonical tags so the archive remains searchable and functional.\"},{\"question\":\"What can traditional archives learn from AO3?\",\"answer\":\"The document argues traditional institutions can benefit from digital reach and flexible curation, but also from stronger interaction between institutions and the communities whose histories they document. It highlights the importance of representation, active participation, and adaptability.\"}]","Archive of Our Own as a Community Archive - How AO3 Functions and What We Can Learn | PDF"]