After completing her studies in geography and ethnology at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, Stanka Drnovšek was hired as an expert associate at the Institute of Slovenian Ethnology. She pursued further studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering (geology), at the Faculty of Biotechnology (natural heritage conservation), and at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic (a one-month study visit as part of CEEPUS—a university exchange program for graduate students).
She is the head of the archive, where she is responsible for collecting, evaluating, organizing, and safeguarding materials and documentation. As the editor of the institute’s website, she ensures that information about the institute, current projects, and collections in the field of cultural heritage is readily available.
She assists in the selection, scanning, and preparation of materials for the institute’s projects and publications, and provides information and assistance to external users of the archive.
Notable digitization projects include the Manuscript Legacy of Karel Štrekelj for the Digital Library of Slovenia (dlib), the Collection of Oral Tradition (1952–1972), the Photo Archive of the Institute of Slovenian Ethnology, and ARZENAL – Virtual Treasury of National Heritage at ZRC SAZU. She collaborated on the project “Multimedia Presentation of Velika Planina Online” and on research into masquerades in Slovenia. For the international project Etnofolk, she contributed two examples of best practices from Slovenian Istria and the Ljubljana area.
2017 Studia mythologica Slavica 11-20 (2008-2017) Bibliography. Studia mythologica Slavica. [Št.] 20, str. 333-347. https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/sms/article/view/6677/6335
2014 Grondali : a revitalized homestead with a winery in Slovenian Istria. Good practices in preservation, promotion and utilisation of folk culture heritage (Str. 35-37)
2014 Koliščarski dan = The Pile dwellers day. Good practices in preservation, promotion and utilisation of folk culture heritage (Str. 56-57)
2013 (co-author) Etnološka kulturna dediščina v Srednji Evropi. Slovenija. Preservation and enhancement of folk culture heritage in Central Europe. Elaborat projekta ETNOFOLK. 38 str.
2013 (co-author) Heritage practices : material culture. Slovenia : case studies. Preservation and enhancement of folk culture heritage in Central Europe. Elaborat projekta ETNOFOLK. 12 str.
2007 (co-editor) Cev, Tone. Velika planina [Elektronski vir] http://odmev.zrc-sazu.si/planina/
2007 Studia mythologica Slavica 1-10 (1998-2007) Bibliography. Studia mythologica Slavica. [Št.] 10, str. 327-338. https://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/sms/article/view/1725/1474
2003 Pust v Cerknici. O pustu, maskah in maskiranju : razprave in gradiva, (Opera ethnologica slovenica). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU: 289-296.
2003 Litijski karneval. O pustu, maskah in maskiranju : razprave in gradiva, (Opera ethnologica slovenica). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU: 271-278.
1998 Štiri tisočletja majevske civilizacije. Mehika in Kuba : zbornik referatov. Maribor: Zavod republike Slovenije za šolstvo.
1996 Co-author with SENEGAČNIK, Jožica. Začetki slovenskega industrijalstva: Šumi. Besede in reči, (Traditiones, 25). Ljubljana: Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti.
- ETNOLOŠKA KULTURNA DEDIŠČINA - ZBIRANJE, VREDNOTENJE IN VAROVANJE GRADIVA, ARHIVOV IN DOKUMENTACIJE (PROJEKT NARAVNE IN KULTURNE DEDIŠČINE) (fundamental research project • January 1, 1996 - December 31, 2000)
- MED IZROČILOM IN SEDANJOSTJO - ETNOLOŠKE RAZISKAVE (fundamental research project • July 1, 1998 - June 30, 2003)
- ŠEGE IN PRAZNIKI NA SLOVENSKEM V DRUGI POLOVICI 20. IN NA ZAČETKU 21. STOLETJA (fundamental research project • July 1, 2001 - June 30, 2004)
- INFORMATIZACIJA NEOPRIJEMLJIVE DEDIŠČINE ZA ETNOLOGIJO IN FOLKLORISTIKO (fundamental research project • January 1, 2005 - December 31, 2008)
- Slovenski pregovori kot kulturna dediščina: klasifikacija in redakcija korpusa (applied project • May 1, 2010 - April 30, 2013)
- ETNOFOLK Ohranjanje in pospeševanje etnološke kulturne dediščine v Srednji Evropi (international project • May 1, 2011 - April 30, 2014)
- Slovenija - Hrvaška: Etnološke in folkloristične raziskave kulturnih prostorov (bilateral project • January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2015)
- Živa coprnija (INTERREG • August 1, 2017 - November 30, 2019)
- member of the Ljubljana Geographical Society
- member of the Slovenian Association for Conservation of Natural Heritage