Conference Agenda

This panel will provide an exploration of recent trends and challenges in the management and preservation of digital archives and records. Panellists from the ICA Expert Group on Managing Digital and Physical Records will present an overview of the group’s recent collaborative work, highlighting key initiatives and innovations in the field.

The discussion will cover a range of topics including current directions in digital preservation, the evolving integration of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in archival processes, and the growing concern about the environmental impact of some of these trends – specifically the digital carbon footprint that comes with large-scale data processing.

Active audience participation will invite attendees to share insights, raise questions, and contribute to the conversation surrounding the future of digital archiving and preservation in an increasingly complex digital environment, where the relationships between data and systems are becoming increasingly interdependent. Information garnered from audience participation will also be used to guide the EG-MDPR's direction, focus and assist in prioritising EG-MDPR activities going forward.

[ES] La presentación tiene como propósito exponer los resultados de la encuesta sobre reclamaciones de archivos desplazados realizada por primera vez en América Latina por el EGSAH del ICA durante el año 2024. Se expondrán algunos antecedentes sobre el panorama de los archivos desplazados a nivel global, la metodología que se llevó a cabo para la adopción de la encuesta, su aplicación en América Latina y los resultados obtenidos. Se concluye con una reflexión sobre el reconocimiento del fenómeno en América Latina y la necesidad de establecer procesos críticos y pedagógicos que contribuyan a abordar el tema con mayor profundidad en la región.

[EN] The presentation aims to present the results of the survey on displaced archives claims conducted for the first time in Latin America by the ICA's EGSAH during 2024. It will provide background information on the global landscape of displaced archives, the methodology adopted for the survey, its implementation in Latin America, and the results obtained. The presentation concludes with a reflection on the recognition of this phenomenon in Latin America and the need to establish critical and pedagogical processes that contribute to addressing the issue more comprehensively in the region.

For historical reasons, the Spanish State Archives are custodians of records, mostly produced in Madrid and Seville, containing information culturally relevant for a vast number of current national identities. Moreover, those records, belonging to the Spanish Central Authorities are complementary to those produced by the delegate Spanish authorities overseas, which remain in the places that hosted those institutions, having become in many cases the foundational core of the current National Archives of several American and Asian countries.

From the early 20th century on, policies focusing the sharing of this archival heritage were put in practice, with different intensities depending on given moments, but which have been definitely strengthen in this first quarter of the 21st century by the implementation of structured programs and bilateral and multilateral agreements, which are to be discussed from the comprehensive perspective of the Subdirectorate of the Spanish State Archives and the more concrete scope of the General Archive of the Indies, as a study case.

What if the government or the national archival institution of a former colony claims restitution of archival material in custody of the national archives of the colonizer? In the Netherlands the Council for Culture has given specific guidelines, different from those concerning cultural objects, on how to handle when a claim has been filed against NAN. In this presentation I will go into the guidelines and the process NAN is executing, what criteria have been issued for dealing with claims and how the NAN cooperate with both the ministry (the judicial owner of the archives) and the claiming institution. It is not a process completed but ongoing, so the latest insights wil be presented for discussion at the ICA. Examples from Curacao, Indonesia and Surinam will be discussed.