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Reimagining the Archive: Rethinking Archival Practice and Theory
The tone was set on Friday evening with Rick Prelinger’s animated keynote presentation, in which he spoke about the dynamic nature of moving image archives as sites of creation, participation, artistic practice, and activism rather than as places where content goes to die.
WITNESS
November 19, 2010
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The Documentation Affinity Group: Embedding Archive in Activism
The Documentation Affinity Group (DAG) is a small international peer-to-peer network of local action groups originally established by six NGOs in 2005 to consider the role of documentation in protecting and promoting human rights worldwide.
WITNESS
November 3, 2010
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Nelson Mandela, Archivist Activist
You may have seen a recent 60 Minutes segment on the newest published memoir of Nelson Mandela, perhaps “the most admired man alive” in the words of correspondent Bob Simon. And if you are an archivist, chances are you are familiar with Verne Harris, of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, renowned in his own right, activist archivist sine qua non.
WITNESS
October 27, 2010
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Srebrenica: A Forensic Reconstruction Now on Exhibit at Open Society Archive
In July 1995, over 8,000 Muslim men and boys were systematically slaughtered on grounds of ethnicity in and around Srebrenica in roughly 72 hours by units of the Bosnian Serb Army.
WITNESS
June 14, 2010
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Forensic Anthropology, Video, and Archives
In mid-April, an episode of NPR program "Speaking of Faith," featuring a representative of the Argentine forensic anthropology team (EAAF) aired. The guest spoke about how recovering the remains of victims of repressive regimes leads to healing, the re-writing of history, and the prosecution of justice.
WITNESS
June 4, 2010
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Thoughts on archives “fitting in”, and processing the Rainlake donation.
I have had the pleasure of interning in the WITNESS Media Archive for the past semester. I chose this internship because I hoped to put my Masters in Human Rights Studies and my Masters in Library Science to work in the video archive.
WITNESS
June 3, 2010
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Archives Without Borders
The preliminary program is now available for the Archives Without Borders international congress announced some months ago. Co-hosted by VVBAD, the Flemish association for archivists and librarians, and KVAN, the Dutch association for archivists, the meeting will be held August 30 and 31, 2010 in the Peace Palace in The Hague, The Netherlands.
WITNESS
April 12, 2010
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New Tactics Dialogue follow-up
Earlier this month New Tactics in Human Rights hosted an online dialogue Documenting Human Rights Violations: Choosing the Right Approach featuring practitioners from a variety of fields. Although a bit hard to navigate, there's a wealth of interesting commentary. Here are a few highlights:
WITNESS
February 10, 2010
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New Tactics dialogue on human rights documentation
Documenting Violations: Choosing the Right Approach is an online dialogue being facilitated by New Tactics in Human Rights, beginning today and running through February 5, 2010.
WITNESS
January 27, 2010
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Non-custodial archiving: U Texas and Kigali Memorial Centre
Non-custodial archival practices and the UT Libraries Human Rights Documentation Initiative partnership with the Kigali Memorial Centre
WITNESS
October 30, 2009
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The magic of documenting documentation
Guest post from Sarah Van Deusen Philips: As the project coordinator for human rights at the Center for Research Libraries-Global Resources Network, my primary task is to engage with the life-cycle of human rights documents, which I do through our Electronic Resources Study. In this study, I am busy speaking to human rights field workers, […]
WITNESS
October 20, 2009
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Human Rights Electronic Evidence Study
The Center for Research Libraries Global Resources Initiative is currently studying how NGOs and archiving institutions collect, manage and preserve digital human rights documentation, including blogs, social media, and video and other media from mobile devices; the project is described in significant depth on The Documentalist, the project's blog.
WITNESS
September 17, 2009
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Recommended: new book, new blog
I am reading, with great pleasure, Randall Jimerson’s newly published Archives Power: Memory, Accountability and Social Justice (2009; Society of American Archivists). The book addresses the role of archives and archivists in society, and evolving perspectives on their relevance to larger issues of social justice. SAA’s blurb: “Grounded in historical and social theory, this analysis […]
WITNESS
September 9, 2009
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Guantánamo Bay archive project
Another interesting project announced recently, also with a significant web component, is the Guantánamo Bay Detention Center Archive. The archive was conceived by Mark Denbeaux and Jonathan Hafetz, attorneys representing several Guantánamo detainees as well as professors of law at Seton Hall University; and co-directed by Michael Nash, director of NYU’s Tamiment Library. […]
WITNESS
July 23, 2009
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Conference: Memory, Archives, Human Rights
In Copehagen Denamrk, and Malmö, Sweden, June 4-5, 2009: Archives, Memory and Human Rights.
WITNESS
May 2, 2009
