Archiving under duress: methodologies and tools

This proposal addresses archival and digital preservation strategies in contexts where financial, technological, and human resources normally taken for granted are lacking or unstable. Based on his experience with archival and digital asset management systems for large Western institutions, last year the author began contributing to a non-profit project to help salvaging cultural heritage at high risk of damage in conflict regions. After partnering with volunteers local to the areas of interest and abroad, it became quickly apparent that most of the underpinnings of his initial approach to the problem were based on assumptions that are far from the reality of the new context, which requires an entirely different mindset to face the challenges at hand. This presentation describes the main challenges of safeguarding critically endangered cultural heritage in areas affected by conflict, censorship, and poverty, and how standard "best practices" can serve both as models and anti-models for an effective solution. Newly developed tools and related methodologies will be described in this presentation, as well as a status report on the related ongoing projects.