Conference Agenda

The proposed paper will discuss the benefits of providing digital access to the archives of writers and artists, the complexities of this work, including digital repatriation and reunification, copyright, and the importance of collaboration between cultural heritage institutions and other stakeholders. The proposed presentation will discusses the University of Victoria Libraries' process of working collaboratively to build a digital collection of modernist literary and artistic archives.

The archives of writers and artists provide profound insight into a particular person and their intellectual circles, places, historical periods, and cultural movements, however, the process of providing broader access to archives through digitization requires consideration of broader ethical and legal concerns. The proposed paper will discuss the benefits of providing digital access to the archives of writers and artists, the complexities of this work, including digital repatriation and reunification, copyright, and the importance of collaboration between cultural heritage institutions and other stakeholders.

The archives of writers and artists circulate within a lucrative marketplace, and, as a result, are frequently scattered across countries and archival repositories. It is not uncommon for cultural archives to be removed from their country of origin and/or for these materials to be fractured across multiple institutions and locations. The resulting outcome creates an overwhelming challenge for scholars seeking a full documentary picture of the creative work and life of writers and artists. Digital collections are one means of providing more holistic and equitable access to these cultural heritage artifacts. Making literary and artistic archives accessible online supports discoverability and also serves as a form of digital repatriation of archives removed from their home country. However, digitizing the recent past to provide broader access to archives for communities in the present and future requires careful consideration of copyright.

The proposed presentation discusses the University of Victoria Libraries' process of working collaboratively to build a digital collection of modernist literary and artistic archives. In this presentation I will discuss the work to digitize, describe, and publish online, letters from the archives of Herbert Read, a British anarchist and art critic whose archives are in the holdings of Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Victoria Libraries (Canada). Read corresponded with hundreds of artists and writers, both well-established and emerging, and his archives provide insight into arts and culture internationally over the course of the twentieth century. The Herbert Read archives are a split fonds with the majority of the archives held by the University of Victoria Libraries in Canada and the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, but with other accruals held at repositories in England, including the University College London. Not only are the archives dispersed across repositories and countries, but much of these materials are still under copyright, adding additional complexity to providing digital access, and requiring extensive consultation and collaboration with literary executors. In this presentation I will discuss the project and its current outcomes as well as future directions.

In the digital age, archives are evolving into dynamic spaces that foster knowledge access, identity construction, and community building. The Library of the Hellenic Parliament is developing a large-scale digital repository to enhance transparency, accountability, and good governance. This presentation explores the project's key features, challenges, and future prospects within the broader context of digital preservation, archival accessibility, and artificial intelligence.

In the era of digital transformation, archives are no longer static repositories of historical memory but dynamic spaces that facilitate universal access to knowledge, also contributing to identity construction and community building. The development of digital tools for the processing, preservation, and dissemination of archival heritage has become a strategic priority for memory institutions, driven by their institutional mission and the evolving needs of diverse user communities.

Moreover, in the case of governmental bodies, archival curation further embeds values like transparency, accountability and good governance. In this light, the Library of the Hellenic Parliament, functioning both as a parliamentary and public library, actively pursues the preservation and promotion of its cultural resources through contemporary methods. This paper aims to present the main aspects of the construction of a large-scale digitization, documentation, open-access repository, encompassing nearly all of the Library's archival collections. The project aligns with global and European regulatory frameworks that promote interoperability, open data, and digital sustainability, while also integrating emerging technologies that redefine the role of archives in the digital ecosystem. Τhe paper outlines the project's key features, the methodological and technical challenges encountered during its implementation, and the future prospects for its development within the broader context of digital preservation, archival accessibility, and artificial intelligence. The key case of the Hellenic Parliament will also be examined in reference to similar initiatives undertaken by other European parliamentary institutions.

This study examines user perceptions of the National Archives of Malaysia’s Online Finding Aid (OFA) system, focusing on its usability using Jacob Nielsen’s five usability attributes and the Technology Acceptance Model. Findings reveal that users have a moderate perception of OFA, with learnability being the most influential factor. The study suggests improving system efficiency, such as enabling downloads, and promoting OFA through social media to increase usage and accessibility.

The role of the National Archives of Malaysia (ANM) is to keep, preserve and provide access to archival materials. To fulfil that role, ANM has held an online finding aid system named Online Finding Aid (OFA) to facilitate users to find and access the archive materials. The online system has significant disadvantage since researchers are unable to download and make online payment, despite the fact that this service is needed for an online finding assistance. However, there are useful services provided such as online searching, PDF view and online reservation. From the mentioned scenario, this study will investigate user perception on usability of the OFA. This study uses a research framework that will test Jacob Nielsen’s five usability attributes (Learnability, Memorability, Efficiency, Error, Satisfaction) with the ‘Intention to Use’ from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to find out their relationship in OFA usability study. The researcher has collected 65 respondents’ feedback through questionnaires and their opinion for OFA improvement. This research has described the finding through quantitative method using statistics test result to determine the perception of users on OFA of and unravel the factors that influence the use of it based on Nielsen’s five usability attributes. It is found that the user’s perception on OFA is ‘moderate’ use and the Nielsen’s usability factors that influence on OFA usage based on percentage Likert scale score are preceded by Learnability, followed by Memorability, Satisfaction, Error, and Efficiency. The study also has shown that users want several improvements to the system. It was proved by 83% of the respondent answers the open-ended question wants the system to be improved that includes functionality, interface, network, and accessible content. Based on the research findings, this study suggested that ANM upgrade the efficiency of the OFA, such as the ability to download digital materials and access to more digital archives to increase its usage level. The study also suggested the OFA aggressively promoted to its targeted and potential new users primarily through a social media campaign as an effort to attract and increase the use of OFA.