| Infrastructure Type | Descriptiona |
Control point for access to or useb For example, identify the owner, regulator, manager, etc. as appropriate |
Open Source, Open Access, or Public Resource/Utilityc | Proprietaryc | How heavily used?d | Reliabilityd | Satisfaction for Userd | Ethical concerns (known or possible) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Land infrastructure For example, properties ceded, unceded, public, private, etc. Include only principal land infrastructures. |
This chapter was researched and completed principally in the following locations:
Duke University is a private university on private property purchased by the Duke family, whose fortune came from tobacco. The University is in the process of developing a land acknowledgement. Meanwhile, the following is recommended: What is now Durham was originally the territory of several Native nations, including Tutelo (TOO-tee-lo) and Saponi (suh-POE-nee)–speaking peoples. Many of their communities were displaced or killed through war, disease, and colonial expansion. Today, the Triangle is surrounded by contemporary Native nations, the descendants of Tutelo, Saponi, and other Indigenous peoples who survived early colonization. These nations include the Haliwa-Saponi (HALL-i-wa suh-POE-nee), Sappony (suh-POE-nee), and Occaneechi (oh-kuh-NEE-chee) Band of Saponi. North Carolina’s Research Triangle is also home to a thriving urban Native American community who represent Native nations from across the United States. Together, these Indigenous nations and communities contribute to North Carolina’s ranking as the state with the largest Native American population east of Oklahoma. (https://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/diversity/expand-your-knowledge/teaching/land-acknowledgements-an-exploration/) |
Duke is a private university on private property. My home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina is on about a half-acre of property and is owned and maintained jointly by my husband and myself. Our jointly owned vacation property in Waynesville, North Carolina is a log house on forty acres. | Not Applicable | Yes | Ethical concerns related to all three properties arise from the forcible wresting of the land from Indigenous peoples in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Further ethical concerns arise from human contributions to environmental degradation and climate change due to the use of fossil fuels to run building mechanics and produce the building materials and furnishings. | ||||
|
Materials infrastructure For example, notable common or rare extracted or other materials used in research, production, and communication. Break down by notable materials used in devices or tools if appropriate. |
Manufacture and use of computer equipment is notably wasteful of materials such as rare minerals, metal, plastic, and cardboard packaging. In both my university office and my home I have a computer monitor in addition to the MacBook Air laptop computer provided by the university, which changes out the computer every four years and does not allow employees to purchase the discarded equipment, which is delivered to “surplus.” (I do not know what happens to it from there.) I printed some of the articles to which I referred when writing my chapter, so I used ink cartridges and paper as well as file folders made of coated stock (not recyclable) and an HP Inkjet 4/c printer. I recycle printer cartridges by bringing them to Staples. | Duke University owns my laptop computer and monitor; I own a duplicate monitor at home and an inkjet printer. | Not Applicable | Yes | 10 | 9 | 9 | ||
|
Energy infrastructure For example, principal energy sources and infrastructure used in research, production, and communication |
Power in this area is supplied by Duke Energy. North Carolina energy supplies in 2023 came from: 41% natural gas, 33% nuclear, 11% coal, 9% solar, and the remainder hydroelectric. See New York Times, “How Does Your State Make Electricity?” August 2, 2024. | Duke University pays for electricity at Smith Warehouse, where my office is located, and I pay for it in the two homes mentioned above. | Yes | Not Applicable | 10 | 9 | 8 |
The more North Carolina energy comes from renewable sources, the more satisfied I will be with it. Electricity goes out at our vacation home on occasion, when trees fall on the wires. We have a backup generator that runs on gasoline. |
|
|
Transportation infrastructure For example, private or public transportation needed for daily or research trips |
Commuting from home to the office takes about a half-hour. Currently I work at the office three days per week. Duke University provides a free bus from my office to the Library on West Campus. Driving to our vacation home from Chapel Hill takes four hours; once we arrive, we tend to stay a minimum of four days. | Duke University for the bus, myself for the car to commute from Chapel Hill to Durham. | Not Applicable | Yes | 4 | 8 | 8 | University bus runs less often and is less convenient during the summer. | |
|
Architectural infrastructure For example, buildings, labs, rooms |
My university office is in a former tobacco warehouse. Recycling the old brick building to new uses has environmental advantages; nevertheless, the windows in the renovated building do not open, and it relies on electrical heating and cooling. Both of my homes were built in 2007. The log home was built with some attention to environmentally responsible standards, but the logs themselves were likely clearcut (not certified sustainable). Much of the interior finishing (floors, doors, etc.) was done from trees harvested on the property. | Duke University for Smith Warehouse | Not Applicable | Yes | 4 | 8 | 10 | There are certainly ethical concerns related to the environmental cost of owning two homes. | Both the office and the vacation home are occasionally inaccessible due to either local flooding between Durham and Chapel Hill or snow in the mountains of western North Carolina. |
|
Civic, community, national, or regional infrastructure For example, provided by cities, communities, governments, etc. |
Roads I use are public, paid for by taxpayers, except for the roads leading to our vacation home, which are private and maintained by a homeowners’ association. Water and sewer in Chapel Hill and Durham are public utilities that send a bill to each property owner. The vacation home is served by a private well and septic system. | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | ||||||
|
Institutional infrastructure For example, equipment, services, and “overhead” or “indirect cost recovery” items for grants to universities |
Duke University provides internet services. In my primary home in Chapel Hill, we have AT&T fiber. At the vacation home we have satellite access, which is notably more spotty and slower. Increasingly I use my cell phone via Verizon Wireless for all telephone calls, whether personal or business related. I am not currently on a grant, although for the past five years 30% of my salary was paid by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). | Not Applicable | Yes | 10 | 9 | 9 | Ethical concerns arise from electricity use, electronic equipment as stated above, and the cluttering of space with satellites. | ||
|
Labor infrastructure For example, type and amount of labor from collaborators, staff, research assistants; include any attributes that seem important, such as unrecognized, unpaid, low-paid, outsourced, or other attributes of labor |
I do not currently have any staff reporting to me, nor did anyone help me transcribe interviews, etc. for my chapter in this book. In this case I did not seek the help of a librarian, either, although I always want to see librarians better paid and more highly appreciated. There are certainly building facility people who supported my work, however, such as cleaning staff and security staff. Numerous staff in IT, HR, Benefits, and Payroll support my staff job. | Not Applicable | Yes | 9 | 9 | 9 | Ethical concerns arise from the university hiring support staff from contractors for tasks such as cleaning; I don’t know how well they are paid. | ||
|
Research-content infrastructure For example, physical libraries and archives, online research materials, shadow libraries, etc. |
Duke University has a stellar research library with excellent online access. As in most libraries, content can become siloed in myriad subscription databases and become challenging to find as a result. There is a delivery service that will bring physical books from the library to my office upon request. | Duke University | Yes | Yes | 5 | 10 | 10 | Under “heavily used” I am referring only to myself. As a staff member, I don’t use the library as heavily as a faculty member or student. | |
|
Tools infrastructure For example, principal analog tools and digital tools, scripts, or protocols used for research, writing, communication, production (excluding high-performance computing, for which see below) |
I use Microsoft Office heavily, especially Word. I also use Adobe Acrobat Pro, paid for by Duke. Further software is detailed in the next section. | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | ||||||
|
Networked Platforms infrastructure For example, major networked or cloud platforms used for research, storage, analysis, sharing, communication, publication—Google Drive, Dropbox, AWS, etc. (excluding high-performance computing, for which see below) |
I did much of my research for this chapter on the internet, using the Google Chrome browser; I sometimes have about two dozen tabs open at once, which puts a burden on the internet bandwidth. I should note that Duke Human Resources uses an SAP system to manage timesheets, payroll, benefits, expenses, etc. Duke provides Duke Box, which is supposed to work like Google Drive, only more securely, but I and many others still use GoogleDrive instead, because it is easier to use. I used Zoom and the telephone quite a lot for my chapter. Duke provides Zoom to all employees at an enterprise level. Duke systems are very secure, which requires staff and expertise. | Access to Duke tools and platforms is via a secure sign in, either with two-factor identification or fingerprint identification. | Not Applicable | Yes | 10 | 10 | 10 | My ethical concerns are environmental, as already detailed above. | |
|
High-performance computing infrastructure Here defined expansively to include the use not just of supercomputers and computer clusters or grids but any high-performance computing infrastructure or special GPU and other processors exceeding the capabilities of an individual workstation, laptop, or server. |
I did not use such infrastructure for my chapter. | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | ||||||
| Other infrastructure | Not Applicable | Not Applicable |
This infrastructure manifest was completed by Sylvia K. Miller and reports on Chapter 18, “Imagining a Future of Multimedia E-Books.”