From software frameworks to methods of physical and digital preservation, today’s session delved into the technical side of archiving. Factors of deterioration, both natural (fire, floods, etc) as well as human (war, vandalism, etc) were discussed in detail as were the cumulative effects of pollution, humidity, micro-organisms and more. The conversation then shifted to accessibility for the lay user and how platforms such as Sahapedia help narrativise and annotate archival material.
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01:15:06 Aparna Vaidik: Could I please request for the YouTube link
01:15:16 Venkat Srinivasan: YouTube livestream: https://youtu.be/VYBlQK0y-bc
01:26:50 somdatta karak: can digitization replace keeping physical paper copies completely? if not, what are the aspects that digitization is not yet able to capture? (I am assuming a situation where digital and physical space capacities are comparable.)
01:39:27 Milli Network: Sessions are being recorded and they will be available at Milli.link in a couple of weeks. YouTube livestream: https://youtu.be/VYBlQK0y-bc Audience: do keep your mics on mute and switch off video. Request the panelists to also mute mics after they have spoken, but leave video on. Chat is always open for people to talk to each other, but request to keep it civil and respecting speakers when they are speaking. To ask questions of panelists: use the ‘Hand Raise’ option or put it in the chat window For any tech questions, send me (Milli Network) a private message After this session, we’ll have an interactive session (at around 11:50am) on aspects of digital and physical preservation. It is open ended and dependent on participants to share queries and concerns, and ask people to share questions in the group chat and not message the moderator directly.
01:41:15 Kanchan Jansari: Voice is not clear Mr. Pandya
01:53:25 PJ: Dear speaker, can you please elaborate on the changes/tweaks you have done to the metadata standard while answering questions? Thanks.
02:00:23 Aparna Subramanian: European Union is doing a project on interoperability emphasizing on role of public media in building digital ecoystem. They are is keen to get in touch with institutions/individuals working on it. Might be of interest to Mr. Madhan @ APU - https://shared-digital.eu/new-project-towards-an-interoperable-public-civic-ecosystem/
02:06:13 Venkat Srinivasan: Sahapedia’s archivist, Menaka Neotia, will give us a view of their backend systems at the Open Standards session on June 13, 10:30am. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/international-archives-week-2020-june-8-14-milli-sessions-tickets-107681129156
02:11:28 Venkat Srinivasan: To recap, today’s session 10 Jun Journey of an Archival Record // Pausing at preservation
Ponnarasu Subramanian (Indian Institute of Technology, Madras) Achal Pandya (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Bangalore) M Madhan (Azim Premji University, Bangalore) R Sivapriya (Sahapedia)
~at Noon: Pausing at preservation Open discussions moderated by Achal Pandya (IGNCA) and Mrinalini Mani (INTACH-CKP, Bangalore)
02:14:17 Aparna Subramanian: For Sahapedia, on Killimangalam Archive: What are the digitization standards followed and codecs used for the VHS digitization?
02:18:13 Shreya Malik: For Sahapedia,- mam can you please elaborate on the Shahpedia archiving the material memory ?If there are some, how can we access (read around it )? like artifacts in particularly.
02:20:43 somdatta karak: does it help if one uses open source softwares so that the formats don’t become obsolete as suddenly as might happen with say, Microsoft products?
02:20:46 somdatta karak: thanks much
02:20:46 Surabhi: Can digital archiving include extensive annotation? Can this be done in hindsight and is that an advantage or does it bring in more biases?
02:23:03 Venkat Srinivasan: We’ll also have an open discussion on digital/physical preservation policies and techniques starting ~noon today. Stay on if you want to walk through your specific concerns!
02:23:12 somdatta karak: sure
02:23:15 yamaha: To all the speakers : Have you tackled language localisations of archives? Any suggestions on how to go about it?
02:26:18 bhanu: formats and softwares, both can become obsolete.. advantage with open source softwares is that you have the code to commission changes or fixes for different use cases.
02:26:24 somdatta karak: thanks a lot for all the perspectives.
02:26:26 PJ: Open Source software goes “missing” in some cases when the community disappears. Paid software goes missing when the profits evaporate, after you’ve already paid for it.
02:26:42 Aparna Subramanian: can Sahapedia talk about how they are dealing with intellectual property rights of the performers in the VHS collection, though the donor may be wanting it to be accessible to public
02:32:12 Venkat Srinivasan: @Surabhi: Just a heads up: there will be a detailed session on Open digital annotation tools: June 13. Hope to see you there.
02:33:02 Aparna Subramanian: Thanks all
02:39:28 Venkat Srinivasan: Email addresses of the speakers in this previous session. Ponnarasu Subramanian (Indian Institute of Technology, Madras) : sponnarasu@gmail.com Achal Pandya (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Bangalore) : achalpandya@hotmail.com M Madhan (Azim Premji University, Bangalore) : madhan.m@azimpremjifoundation.org R Sivapriya (Sahapedia) : r.sivapriya@sahapedia.org
02:45:01 SamiaRahim: There is an echo where speech is being repeated.
02:49:28 Venkat Srinivasan: All: Please do share any questions you have around digital and physical preservation. Really, ANY questions. This is meant to be an open ended discussion.
02:51:32 Venkat Srinivasan: Contact email addresses for current session leads: Achal Pandya (IGNCA) : achalpandya@hotmail.com Mrinalini Mani (INTACH-CKP, Bangalore) : ickpac@gmail.com Rama Patnaik (IIM Bangalore) : rama.patnaik@iimb.ac.in
02:54:22 dinesh: Generally, what are the ways an archive refers to a physical object in the past and now and what is possible going forward with tech (location, image processing) as identifing markers
02:55:32 dinesh: an object in a museum or out there in the natual world.
02:57:47 yamaha: To all speakers : Have you guys tackled the problem of language localisation of your respective archives? Any suggestions for upcoming archivists, content creators and technical personnel to be better prepared in this regard?
02:58:31 Malini Krishnankutty: What are the challenges posed by the local climatic conditions in India to preservation? Is air conditioning a pre-requisite for preservation of paper documents?
03:05:43 Venkat Srinivasan: All: In general, if you want information on digital asset management systems and archival description systems, see this excellent overview: https://bits.ashleyblewer.com/blog/2017/08/09/collection-management-system-collection/
03:09:28 Venkat Srinivasan: For all things digital preservation, Trevor Owens’ work on the ‘theory and craft of digital preservation’ is a great resource: https://osf.io/preprints/lissa/5cpjt/
03:16:00 Maya Dodd: Have there been any studies done about impact of climate and types of environmental management in Indian conditions…that we can access too!
03:17:15 Malini Krishnankutty: @Mrinalini, thanks for your response, great to hear you plug for NO AC but design of better local climatically responsive buildings to manage the micro climate!
03:18:25 Venkat Srinivasan: @Maya: Nina Jethwa from the Aurobindo Ashram Archives has done some really interesting work on environmental impact in their archives. Published overview: PAPER HISTORY, Volume 19, Year 2015, Issue 2
03:22:17 Maya Dodd: Super.. Thanks venkat!
03:22:43 Venkat Srinivasan: All, if you can afford it, Mrinalini was referring to the use of data loggers for temperature/relative humidity. It may well be cheaper than installing an AC/dehumidifier without an evaluation of the ‘do-nothing’ environmental situation.
03:23:01 Maya Dodd: theres a blip
03:38:58 Aparna Vaidik: Trevor Owens’ work on the ‘theory and craft of digital preservation’ is a great resource: https://osf.io/preprints/lissa/5cpjt/
03:42:05 ajith: Madan: are you know trying the in house sytems used by Wipro or APF ?
03:43:00 ajith: Madan: are you not trying the in house systems used by Wipro or APF ?
03:47:38 Venkat Srinivasan: Resource: https://www.nedcc.org/ - Northeast Document Conservation Center (United States) has really nice overview documents and tips. But some tips may be very specific to the North American physical environment, which is quite different from South Asia.
03:48:00 Abhishek Banerjee: One major issue in paper documents is foxing in archival materials especially in tropical climates. What can be remedial conservation methods to address Foxing?
03:48:42 Venkat Srinivasan: Resource: https://www.culturalheritage.org/ Again, nice overview documents and has a really nice and free mailing list to join. Some tips may be specific to their geographic environment.
03:53:15 Maya Dodd: ICA is also continuing the discussion at archives week: please see at https://www.ica.org/en/iaw2020-webinar-what-i-wish-i-knew-about-digital-preservation
03:59:59 Swetcha Poladi: the question is from ponnarasu
04:05:27 Riya khanna: thanks alot
04:05:37 Riya khanna: great session
04:05:45 Aparna Vaidik: Sending out the resources list for today
