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Ruohua Han

Assistant Professor, Library and Information Science

ruohua.han@du.edu

303-871-2295 (Office)

Katherine A. Ruffatto Hall, 1999 East Evans Avenue Denver, CO 80208-1700

What I do

I am a faculty member in the Library and Information Science program. I teach Organization of Information, Introduction to Archives, Advanced Archives, and Digital Preservation. My research is focused on personal archives and archiving as well as the representation of East Asian communities in archival collections.

Professional Biography

My background is mostly in archives, memory studies, and information behavior and practices. For my research, I use human-centric, qualitative methods to explore the diverse ways that people engage with personal archiving in their everyday lives and how cultural institutions can equitably represent and preserve the material traces of individual and familial life experiences. Some of my recent work examines: (1) How to engage with "archival silences" (e.g., gaps, absences, distortions) in the historical record of Chinese and Chinese American experiences in the U.S.; (2) How Chinese university students enrolled at the University of Illinois and the University of Denver in the early 20th century are documented and described in university archival collections.

Degree(s)

  • Ph.D., Library and Information Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2023
  • MS, Archival Science, Renmin University of China, 2015
  • BS, Archival Science, Renmin University of China, 2013

Professional Affiliations

  • Society of American Archivists
  • Association for Information Science and Technology

Media Sources

Featured Publications

Han, R. (2026). Illuminating connections and contexts: Building an ontology for Chinese ration coupon archival resources based on RiC-O. Information Research.
Han, R., & Han, Y. (2025). Inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and inappropriateness: Examining the representation of Chinese students in university archives with radical empathy. Archival Science, 25(2), 26.

Presentations

Han, R. (2026). Illuminating connections and contexts: Building an ontology for Chinese ration coupon archival resources based on RiC-O. iConference 2026 Information Literacies, Authenticity and Use: The Move Towards a Digitally Enlightened Society. Edinburgh, United Kingdom: iSchools.
Matusiak, K., & Han, R. (2025). Experiment and design: Building a digital archives exhibit with emerging technologies under limited resources. Forging Ahead: Librarianship and Information Services in Times of Technological, Cultural, and Political Changes (2025 Association for Information Science and Technology Midwest Chapter Symposium). Crystal City, VA, USA: Association for Information Science and Technology.
Han, R., & Matusiak, K. (2025). Curating digital exhibits in community archives: A comparative study of the Park County Local History Archives and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California . 2025 Society of American Archivists (SAA) Research Forum. Virtual: Society of American Archivists.
Wickett, K. M., Han, R., & Han, Y. (2025). List of Killed: Critical and creative engagement as ways of knowing. 2025 Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S). Seattle, CA, USA: Society for Social Studies of Science .
Han, Y., Han, R., & Wickett, K. M. (2024). Tracing the contours of archival silences: A case study of critical collection building on the Rock Springs Massacre . 87th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology . Calgary, Canada: Association for Information Science and Technology .

Awards

  • Best Short Research Paper Award Finalist, iConference 2026
  • Best Poster Award 1st Place, Association for Information Science & Technology 2024 Annual Meeting
  • Best Paper Reviewer Award, Association for Information Science & Technology