Posts Tagged advocacy
UNESCO/UBC Vancouver Memory of the World Declaration
Posted by Aileen Cornelio in News on October 8, 2012
At last month’s conference, “Memory of the World in the Digital Age: Digitization and Preservation”, a declaration was adopted addressing the challenge of digital amnesia. The four page document, made available on UNESCO’s website last week, is an extension of a principle in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That is, each individual should be guaranteed access to information, including in digital format, and that national policies should be established to promote the right to information, open government and open data.
Also highlighted during the conference and its consequent declaration was the growing importance of industry in digitization and digital preservation among trusted digital repositories. The conference declaration adopted a call on industry to ensure long-term accessibility to trustworthy information contained in legacy formats. It further encouraged professional associations work with industry for the development of requirements of systems that embed preservation concern and assist in the development of a cohesive and practical vision of the way forward in addressing the management and preservation of trustworthy recorded information in all its forms in the digital environment.
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Archives & Activism Symposium
Posted by Aileen Cornelio in Announcements on September 15, 2012
As part of New York Archives Week next month, the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (ART) and the New School Libraries and Archives are pleased to co-sponsor a symposium on archives and activism. They have posted a preliminary schedule and are still accepting registrations for the October 12 event.
The symposium covers topics surrounding the contention between activists movements pushing for reforms vis-a-vis conceptions of the archivist’s role in handling materials of cultural and social significance as one originating from hegemonic and traditional institutional frameworks. This symposium thus offers to reconceptualize the role of the archivist as societal needs evolve and technologies emerge while balancing the archives’ commitment to the institutions that fund and administer them…
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Register Your Support for the Universal Declaration on Archives
Posted by Aileen Cornelio in Announcements on August 1, 2012
To raise awareness of the profession, the International Council on Archives (ICA) is enlisting the support of the public to promote Universal Declaration on Archives (UDA) by signing the UDA online register. The UDA has been endorsed by the ICA as a key pillar of its outreach and advocacy policy and strategy. Followers and supporters may also share the link to further publicize the Declaration.
The UDA was adopted in principle in 2009 at the ICA Annual General Meeting in Malta. It was developed by a special working group of the ICA, the SPA (Section of Professional Associations), based on the model of the “Déclaration québécoise des Archives“. On 17 September 2010, the ICA unanimously approved the text of the UDA at their Annual General Meeting held in Oslo. On 10th November 2011, the UDA was officially endorsed by UNESCO and adopted by the 36th plenary session of the General Conference of UNESCO .
The Declaration concisely outlines the unique characteristics of archives and the management requirements to provide ongoing records access. It has been conceived as a basis for advocacy and promotion to support archives and the profession, and addresses a wide public. Available in 25 languages, it is a statement of the relevance of archives in modern society and marks an important step in improving understanding and awareness of archives among the general public and key decision-makers.
Reminder: Archiving Human Rights for Advocacy, Justice & Memory
Posted by Aileen Cornelio in Announcements on May 10, 2012
Join WITNESS and the New Tactics community for an online dialogue on Archiving Human Rights for Advocacy, Justice and Memory from May 16 to 22, 2012. Archiving and preservation have long taken a backseat to more urgent aspects of human rights documentation and advocacy, but that is beginning to change. Human rights archives are increasingly playing a pivotal role in advocacy, restorative justice, historical memory, and struggles against impunity. At the same time, however, archivists and activists alike are grappling with the mounting challenges posed by the proliferation of digital documentation. How can we ensure that the critical documentation created today will be preserved and accessible in the future?
In this dialogue, we will explore the tactics and methods used by archivists to preserve human rights information. Are you new to this topic? This is an opportunity for you to learn about the role of archiving in human rights work and how to develop your own archiving strategy. Are you knowledgeable on this topic? This is an opportunity for you to share your experiences with peers, learn about new tactics, and meet others working in this field.
Join us on May 16 to meet others interested in this topic, learn new ideas, and share
your experiences!
How can you participate?
This online dialogue is open to anyone interested in sharing their experiences and ideas
on this topic!
Archivists without Borders Opens US Chapter
Posted by Aileen Cornelio in News on May 2, 2012
As an advocate for archives activities in guaranteeing the recognition of human rights, AW is excited to spread news regarding the expansion of Archiveros sin Fronteras (AsF). As seen in this message posted by ArchivesNext, this is of particular interest to American archivists:
Dear fellow archivist,
It is with great excitement that we announce the release of the first half of the proposal to form a U.S. Chapter of Archivists without Borders. This portion of the proposal, which includes Background and Mission Statement, will be open for comment until May 31, 2012. You can find the full text to these sections on our website: http://awbuschapter.wordpress.com/. To contribute your comments on these two sections, please use the comments feature on our website. We are currently working with Archives without Borders International to draft the remainder of the proposal. Please be patient as we work diligently to push these additional sections out for your input.
As members of the archival community who have expressed interest in the vision Archivists without Borders promotes, your contribution is vital. The comments you make will shape the direction of this organization. We welcome your ideas for the organization’s potential, criticisms of the wording, alerts to unanticipated implications, and questions about how we currently envision this chapter functioning.
We are also pleased to announce that you can now follow AwB-US on Twitter (@AWB_US) and on Facebook:http://tinyurl.com/8x4y3nv.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Best regards,
AWB-US Core Working Group
Joel Blanco-Rivera
Erin Faulder
Jasmine Jones
Mario H. Ramirez
Amanda Strauss
Adam Zimmerli
Archivists Watch 