The Justice Archive: Transitional Justice and Digital Memory

This article introduces the justice archive as a concept and set of practices emerging from recent developments in transitional justice, memory, and digital technology. Drawing on evidence from the Americas and the Balkans, it examines digital archiving and memory activism and considers the role of international law and regulation

The European Landscape of Qualitative Social Research Archives: Methodological and Practical Issues

In this article I set about describing current practices in archiving and reusing qualitative data. I discuss where can you find archived sources of qualitative data, and discuss some of the debates surrounding methodological, ethical and theoretical considerations relating to re-using data. I then address more pragmatic issues involved acquiring, preserving, providing access to and supporting the use of the data. Where best do qualitative data collections sit?in traditional libraries or archives alongside historical documents or as part of more holistic digital collections of contemporary social science research resources? This question relates to accessibility, resource discovery and cataloging methods, data preparation and documentation and promotional and outreach efforts to encourage data use. The ESDS Qualidata unit at the UK Data Archive is used as case study for showcasing archival practices, and is situated within the broader European landscape of social science-oriented data archives. Infrastructure requirements for running an archive are discussed and a look forward future developments

Contemporary Art and Historical Archives: Collaborations and Convergences in a Digital Multicultural Age

Literature illuminating the relationship between contemporary art and historical archives around the turn of the twenty-first century and how these interactions inform the evolution of archives in a digital multicultural age is the topic of this review. The literature reveals the extent to which art has been a means for members of marginalized groups to address their representation in historical archives, and also a means for archives to connect with a broader audience. Collaborations between artists and historical archives add new dimension to the debate about the nature of the archive as a creation in and of itself, and in turn the question of whether participatory culture may be a necessary component in achieving more complete representation of all segments of the community. Types of relationships explored in this review include: the questioning of and re-imagining of the archive by artists, particularly those from marginalized groups; the blending of art and digital archives; and how such collaborations have informed the mission and practical concerns of archives. As digitization leads to increasing convergence of previously distinct cultural heritage collections and enthusiasm for participatory platforms accelerates, interactions between individual artists, people from marginalized communities, and GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) will continue to evolve and expand. From this literature review emerge observations about prior collaborations from around the world as they inform future developments

LDL (Landscape Digital Library) : A Digital Photographic Database of a Case Study Area in the River Po Valley, Northern Italy

Landscapes are both a synthesis and an expression of national, regional and local cultural heritages. It is therefore very important to develop techniques aimed at cataloguing and archiving their forms. This paper discusses the LDL (Landscape Digital Library) project, a Web accessible database that can present the landscapes of a territory with documentary evidence in a new format and from a new perspective. The method was tested in a case study area of the river Po valley (Northern Italy). The LDL is based on a collection of photographs taken following a systematic grid of survey points identified through topographic cartography; the camera level is that of the human eye. This methodology leads to an innovative landscape archive that differs from surveys carried out through aerial photographs or campaigns aimed at selecting "relevant" points of interest. Further developments and possible uses of the LDL are also discussed

Developments in the Scholarly Use of Digital Archive Material

In order to analyse ordinary scholarly practices in the age of digital technology, we are obliged to explore the route of digital archives, whose number of users, volume of documents, and range of content have increased considerably in the past decade. Two studies carried out five years apart on users of the Gallica digital library, the digital archive of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (France’s national library) and its partners, alongside other analysis (semi-structured interviews; ethnographic video observations; and analysis of access logs) have enabled conclusions to be drawn from changes in recent years in our relationship to digital archive material and its user interfaces regarding the growing role of personal research and the development of close reading online.L’analyse des pratiques savantes ordinaires à l’heure du numérique impose un détour par les bibliothèques numériques dont l’audience, la masse et la diversité de l’offre ont considérablement augmenté depuis une décennie. Deux enquêtes menées auprès des usager·ère·s de la bibliothèque numérique Gallica à cinq ans de distance, mises en regard d’autres analyses (entretiens semi-directifs, observations vidéo-ethnographiques, analyse des logs de connexion), permettent de formuler des constats sur les mutations ces dernières années du rapport au patrimoine documentaire numérisé et à ses interfaces de consultation : la place croissante des recherches personnelles et l’augmentation de la lecture attentive en ligne.El análisis de las prácticas eruditas corrientes en la era digital, impone un análisis de las bibliotecas digitales cuya audiencia, así como el volumen y la diversidad de la oferta, han aumentado considerablemente la última década. Dos trabajos de terreno, realizados en un intervalo de cinco años, con usuarios de la biblioteca digital Gallica, complementados con otros análisis (entrevistas semi-dirigidas, observaciones video-etnográficas, análisis de los logs de conexión) permiten constatar mutaciones, ocurridas en los últimos años, sobre la relación que se establece con el patrimonio documental digitalizado y con sus interfaces de consulta: el espacio que adquieren las búsquedas personales y el incremento de la lectura concienzuda en línea

Implementation of digital archives using a dynamic archive information system

Archive structuring is sorting and combining archives according to type and use of archives for organization's benefit. Electronic filing systems are useful in facilitating the management of archives in organization. The study aimed to determine the implementation of the Dynamic Archival Information System or Sistem Informasi Kearsipan Dinamis (SIKD) at the Purwodadi Grobogan Regional Archives and Library Office. The research method was descriptive qualitative. The results showed that implementation of SIKD in dynamic archives at the Purwodadi Grobogan Regional Archives and Library Office began with document recording, archive control, distribution of archives, archive storage, and archive shrinkage. Archives are recorded in various methods consist of agenda books, control cards, and manuscripts. Archive control used are a control card system, spreadsheet introduction, and the SIKD framework application, which is equipped with a login. Distribution of archives used identification cards in SIKD after taking advantage of new developments and using conventional process combinations. Archive storage, both active and inactive records used the usual storage process that relied on the classification code recorded on the control card. This study concludes that the creation of the archives to archives shrinkage needs to be optimized. Due to the limited human resources of digital archive managers, not all dynamic archive files are digitized, and not all units can use the SIKD system due to website network problems. This study implies that the management of digital archives needs improvements in meeting the needs of those who require them at the Purwodadi Grobogan Regional Archives and Library Office

Sharing Qualitative and Qualitative Longitudinal Data in the UK: Archiving Strategies and Development

Over the past two decades significant developments have occurred in the archiving of qualitative data in the UK. The first national archive for qualitative resources, Qualidata, was established in 1994. Since that time further scientific reviews have supported the expansion of data resources for qualitative and qualitative longitudinal (QL) research in the UK and fuelled the development of a new ethos of data sharing and re-use among qualitative researchers. These have included the Timescapes Study and Archive, an initiative funded from 2007 to scale up QL research and create a specialist resource of QL data for sharing and re-use. These trends are part of a wider movement to enhance the status of research data in all their diverse forms, inculcate an ethos of data sharing, and develop infrastructure to facilitate data discovery and re-use. In this paper we trace the history of these developments and provide an overview of data policy initiatives that have set out to advance data sharing in the UK. The paper reveals a mixed infrastructure for qualitative and QL data resources in the UK, and explores the value of this, along with the implications for managing and co-ordinating resources across a complex network. The paper concludes with some suggestions for developing this mixed infrastructure to further support data sharing and re-use in the UK and beyond

Digital Preservation Services : State of the Art Analysis

Research report funded by the DC-NET project.An overview of the state of the art in service provision for digital preservation and curation. Its focus is on the areas where bridging the gaps is needed between e-Infrastructures and efficient and forward-looking digital preservation services. Based on a desktop study and a rapid analysis of some 190 currently available tools and services for digital preservation, the deliverable provides a high-level view on the range of instruments currently on offer to support various functions within a preservation system.European Commission, FP7peer-reviewe

DRIVER Technology Watch Report

This report is part of the Discovery Workpackage (WP4) and is the third report out of four deliverables. The objective of this report is to give an overview of the latest technical developments in the world of digital repositories, digital libraries and beyond, in order to serve as theoretical and practical input for the technical DRIVER developments, especially those focused on enhanced publications. This report consists of two main parts, one part focuses on interoperability standards for enhanced publications, the other part consists of three subchapters, which give a landscape picture of current and surfacing technologies and communities crucial to DRIVER. These three subchapters contain the GRID, CRIS and LTP communities and technologies. Every chapter contains a theoretical explanation, followed by case studies and the outcomes and opportunities for DRIVER in this field