Tag Archives: Heritage

There is a Place for Everyone in Climate Action

The UN is focussing this year’s World Environment Day (5 June) on biodiversity, and the close link between it and human well-being. As the official website underlines, biodiversity – maintaining the widest possible range of forms of life on earth – brings major benefits to humanity. It does this because human life is still fundamentally interconnected with our environment as part of a complex ecosystem.

This ecosystem includes the many relationships of humans to the environment. It includes the links between climate, individuals, industry, and government. In fact, it is the connection between all of the earth’s life and resources. This interdependence, these links, means reliance on one another.

It follows that changes in other parts of this ecosystem can have a real impact on us – not least in the form of the Coronavirus pandemic, or locust infestations, both of which are arguably facilitated by biodiversity loss. A key driver of change in this ecosystem today, and one that is intricately linked with biodiversity, is climate change.

In this blog post for World Environment Day, I would therefore like to discuss interdependence, and where the LIS field and documentary heritage practice fit in.

 

Culture and the Environment

The environment has moulded human society and culture for thousands of years. We are inextricably tied to it, and so, environmental hazards are also threats to culture. Historically, freak weather, volcanic and earthquake activity, combined with long-term evolutions in temperatures have all had an impact on our cultures.

However now, we are facing the impacts of anthropogenic climate change. In other words, environmental threats are human threats, and therefore require finding human solutions.

Culture under threat

IFLA recently provided responses to a request from the UN Special Rapporteur for Cultural Rights in which we discussed the threats, challenges and opportunities associated with documentary cultural heritage and climate change.

When looking for the link between documentary heritage and climate change, here are just some things to begin thinking about:

  • Fires, flooding, high heat and humidity, severe storms, and resulting power loss all threaten memory institutions which store movable heritage. Developing nations, marginalized communities, and Small Island Developing States are at the most immediate risk.
  • Primary sources of documentary heritage are often delicate, requiring sensitive care to preserve, and are at risk of degradation over time. This threat is exacerbated by rising temperatures and the increased severity of natural disasters and storms.
  • We are likely to see increased numbers of refugees due to climate change, leading to a greater risk of loss, especially concerning the stories and histories of marginalised communities, just as we already see in the case of refugees fleeing conflict and natural disaster. Loss of these stories is a loss for humankind. The work of documentary heritage professionals is essential for allowing us to access the lives, stories, and histories of communities.

It is easy to be overwhelmed and feel that adapting to climate change is more at home in another sector, a duty for other professionals. However, climate action will take all of us, the global library field, cultural and memory institutions included.

Crucially, libraries do not need just to be victims of the effects of climate change, but also vectors of change. We do not only have a duty to contribute to wider efforts to reduce emissions, but can be at the heart of the drive to raise ambition globally, and help the world adapt.

Libraries, Documentary Heritage and Climate Action

There are concrete actions that LIS professionals can take. In addition to leading by example and ensuring that buildings and techniques are low emission, libraries can also help shape opinion and so drive commitment.

A great tool and source of inspiration for this is ICOMOS’s report The Futures of Our Past (2019), which discusses how to engage the cultural sector in climate action, and which has provided the basis for a shorter IFLA overview.

Below we suggest some aspects of librarianship that can impact climate action. You are welcome to share other ideas in the comments.

Bringing climate change home to people

A key action set out in the ICOMOS report is the possibility to highlight the effects of climate change on cultural heritage itself as a means of bringing this to life for the public. Buildings damaged, collections lost or subject to decay, and disappeared cultures are tragic, powerful testimonies to the reality of what is happening.

In other words, libraries and other heritage institutions can humanise scientific data by putting it into people-centred and culturally sensitive terms that everyone can understand. We can learn from the past and put that knowledge into action.

Access to information and Information Literacy

Libraries, information services, and conservation and preservation practitioners provide access to information and cultural resources that can inform research and practice, raise awareness and ease understanding.

Climate data, maps, agriculture and irrigation practices, evidence of traditional economies, and indigenous knowledge are all available to us through the collection, documentation, preservation cataloguing, sharing and provision of access to information. LIS professionals and archivists are essential for this.

Moreover, being able to think critically is the best way to combat the deluge of fake news surrounding the topic of climate change. Literacy, both traditional and digital, are key to the informed, participatory societies we will need to enact change.

Digitisation

Digitisation and secure storage of digitised heritage materials are key ways for libraries to preserve materials at risk due to climate change or other threats. Beyond digitising this heritage, providing access to in and education on it is also critical in ensuring that the knowledge held within is interpreted and applied.

The threat to the world’s documentary heritage posed by climate change should be a catalyst for more systematic document preservation and sharing.  Further, there is an urgent need to advocate for international action on copyright, to ensure that libraries globally are able to preserve the works in their collections, including across borders.

Sharing good practice

Having an impact also means looking to others within the profession and sharing ideas on how to make small difference within your own institution. For example, IFLA’s Environment, Sustainability and Libraries Special Interest Group connects professionals from across the library field and around the world to:

  • Address the effects of climate change on libraries
  • discuss applications of environment-friendly practices in libraries
  • propose environmental recommendations for the profession
  • promote sustainability-related library resources and services
  • increase librarians’ own awareness of environmental concerns.

The group has published a number of tools on their webpage that are a great starting-point when exploring what actions you can take to help make a difference.

IFLA is also proud to be a founding member of the Climate Heritage Network (CHN), launched in 2019, which strives to be a leader at the intersection of climate action, culture and cultural rights. The goal is to reach arts, culture and heritage actors and advocates who can use their expertise and talents towards mobilising for climate action.

IFLA is currently working with the CHN on actions concerning advocacy, awareness-raising, and impactful communication on the role of culture in climate action. We are working to find a common language to communicate on culture’s role in climate action, both to our peers in the cultural field and those in other sectors working on climate-related concerns.

The human right to participate in cultural life, and the protection of our cultural property, are interdependent on the environment, and are at risk of being negatively impacted. Our profession, and all professions, are linked to this work.

We all have a place

Climate action is not only for politicians. It is not only for scientists, leaders of industry, budget-holders, and decision makers.

We are all linked, and the effectiveness of climate action will be the result of the interdependent actions of us all.

In order to make an impact, there need to be cross-sectoral approaches to finding solutions – where all voices are heard and new approaches (both innovative and looking to traditional knowledge) are considered.

Connecting people with information and education, promoting media and digital literacy, counteracting deliberate misinformation, preserving, digitising and providing access to our cultural resources are all ways LIS and heritage professionals can take climate action.

Interdependence means reliance on one another. Our profession is not only reliant on climate action, it is part of it.

Gateways to Cultural Diversity: Libraries as multicultural hubs

Cultural diversity is a force for development.

It nurtures a climate of mutual understanding, celebration of differences, and critical thinking to combat pre-conceived notions of the “other”. This is a vital component of building peace, stability, and development.

UNESCO states that three-quarters of the world’s major conflicts have a cultural dimension.

In order bridge these divides, we must begin with the acceptance and recognition of cultural diversity as being central to peacebuilding. This is reflected in UNESCO’s cultural conventions, including the 2005 Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

Fully realising cultural diversity as a driver for development will take cooperation at all levels: from the local to the international, from memory institutions to civil society, individuals to policy makers.

With our mission of facilitating access to information, our role as defenders of free speech, and our responsibility of protecting and sharing the heritage of our communities, libraries are key players.

To celebrate the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (21 May) this article will explore and hopefully inspire reflection on some of the ways libraries act as cultural hubs – as gateways connecting our communities to one another, and to diverse expressions of culture the world over.

Access to Culture

International human rights law guarantees the right to culture, to freedom of expression, and to engage in the cultural life of one’s community.

Politically motivated intolerance of different cultures, silencing voices from minority and indigenous groups, and targeted destruction of cultural heritage – these are all very real threats to the enjoyment of these rights by everyone.

In the face of this, libraries have long been champions of free speech and access to information and culture.

Upheld in IFLA’s Code of Ethics for Librarians and other Information Workers, core principles for the work of library and information professionals include:

  • Ensuring access to information for all for personal development, education, cultural enrichment, leisure, economic activity and informed participation in and enhancement of democracy.
  • Rejecting censorship in all its forms.
  • Ensuring that the right of accessing information is not denied to anyone, regardless of their age, citizenship, political belief, physical or mental ability, gender identity, heritage, education, in-come, immigration and asylum-seeking status, marital status, origin, race, religion or sexual orientation.

These principles carry over into the IFLA/UNESCO Public Library Manifesto:

The public library, the local gateway to knowledge, provides a basic condition for lifelong learning, independent decision- making and cultural development of the individual and social groups. It is a living force for education, culture and information, and as an essential agent for the fostering of peace and spiritual welfare through the minds of men and women.

Providing their communities, no matter their identity, with the freedom to read, to access information, and to participate in cultural life is central to libraries’ roles as cultural hubs.

For reflection: how can libraries uphold these key ethical principles in both their physical and digital spaces? Where are the gaps? Which members of your community may not have a platform to express and share their culture, and how might libraries help mediate that?

Preserving our Heritage

The importance of cultural heritage, in all its expressions, lies in its ability to tangibly bridge the gap between generations and between cultures. The experiential quality of monuments and sites, intangible cultural heritage, movable and documentary cultural heritage gives them an incredible potential as learning tools.

To put it simply, heritage places, objects, and expressions can make culture come to life – both for those experiencing their own heritage and those learning and appreciating the culture of others.

Libraries have multiple roles to play in this.

Preservation

On one hand, preservation and conservation work at libraries help ensure that our documentary heritage can be passed along to future generations.

On the other, access to information regarding the historical study of heritage, and the way culture was written about in the past, gives us a perspective for historical context and lessons-learned. This enhances our ability to improve representation and methodology in the study of culture today.

Access

Beyond the preservation and conservation of documentary heritage, UNESCO’s 2015 Recommendation upholds that the ability to access this heritage is equally important.

This Recommendation encourages member states to provide appropriate legislative frameworks, empowering memory institutions to provide accurate and up-to-date catalogues, and to facilitate partnerships that will enhance access.

Digitisation is an important aspect of access – and indeed when libraries’ doors are closed, an essential pre-condition.

Libraries and documentary heritage professionals are vocal supporters of digitisation policy, and the legal framework that will allow for it. For a good example, please have a look at the Guidelines to Setting up a Digital Unification Project. More information and tips for digitisation is provided online by IFLA’s Preservation and Conservation (PAC) Centres: PAC Frequently Asked Questions.

It is also important to ensure that a more diverse range of content is becoming digitised. IFLA, together with partners in the UNESCO PERSIST project, are working on updating the Guidelines for the selection of digital heritage for long-term preservation. This update seeks to expand on the Guidelines, such as including emerging technologies, to better support practitioners in the preservation of digital heritage.

For reflection: how can the preservation and conservation of cultural heritage be more inclusive? How can expressions of cultural heritage be used as learning tools, while still staying authentic to their core value as traditional social practice? What role can libraries play in connecting their communities to these expressions of cultural heritage? 

Libraries as Multicultural Centres

Libraries exist at an intersection of culture, education, and community, and through this, they become a hub for fostering cross-cultural dialogue and active citizenship.

The IFLA/UNESCO Multicultural Library Manifesto puts this quite clearly:

As libraries serve diverse interests and communities, they function as learning, cultural, and information centres. In addressing cultural and linguistic diversity, library services are driven by their commitment to the principles of fundamental freedoms and equity of access to information and knowledge for all, in the respect of cultural identity and values.

In a world where refusing, silencing, and – at times – destroying evidence of cultural diversity is politically-driven, then providing a space for cultural diversity is a powerful and profound act.

Libraries can lead their communities by example. They can be hubs for dialogue, spaces for performance, repositories for expressions of culture, and providers of services that nurture inclusion.

For reflection: How can libraries best determine what materials and services will best meet the cultural needs of their communities? How can libraries use their position as multicultural hubs in to advocate for more inclusive spaces in their communities? Collecting and sharing success stories can be powerful testimony for the importance of libraries, how can libraries do this more effectively?

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Now more than ever, the need to keep connected with one another and with cultural life is felt acutely. As many countries are grappling with the interface of the COVID-19 epidemic, economic hardship, and possibly civil unrest and natural disasters, these are times where support is greatly needed. Culture is connection and comfort, and cultural diversity is a powerful reminder of our shared humanity in the face of hardship.

This period of raised awareness of and participation in culture on digital platforms can be an opportunity for libraries to seek out better ways to keep the door to culture – and connection within their communities – open.

 

New Challenges and Opportunities: COVID and Memory

On International Museum Day, memory institutions, collection-holders, and visitors alike are called to reflect on the power of cultural materials and the stories they tell. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) is calling on its network to rally around this year’s theme: “Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion”, celebrating the diversity of perspectives that make up all aspects of museums. Please visit their dedicated website to International Museum Day to see more of this year’s celebrations.

For memory institutions (galleries, libraries, archives, museums), there is a longstanding conversation on the power of cultural heritage as a means to promote cultural exchange, mutual understanding and peace. This conservation is more important than ever this year, as COVID-19 has brought radical changes to all sectors of society.

Let’s take the opportunity of International Museums Day to touch on several points of discussion regarding the effects of COVID-19 on the heritage sector, and what they could mean for libraries and the heritage professionals working therein.

 

Creating Tomorrow’s Heritage

In an earlier blog post, we’ve touched on the importance of primary sources in providing historical context and lessons-learned when facing difficult times. Looking to the past can help people understand how medical, social, and political response at the time mirrors and differs from what they are currently experiencing.

During the American Great Depression of the 1930’s, the government-sanctioned Farm Security Administration hired 10 photographers to go out and document the country during this period of extreme poverty. The goal was to

show people in cities back East what the Great Depression looked like for the rural poor – to give it a human face. The resulting photographs are still today among the most iconic of both this era and of American history as a whole.

Migrant Mother Photograph

“Migrant Mother” by Dorothea Lange

To me, this story is one that perfectly encapsulates the power of documentation. Not only in the act of supporting the artists and photographers to create material, but in the way this material is used and shared – in this case raising support for relief programmes and legislation.

To pass along the opportunity for future generations to connect to our current experience, there is a need to document the response to COVID-19 now, in as many voices and perspectives as possible.

Libraries are helping record their communities’ responses to COVID-19 and their experiences living with the measures their governments are taking to stop the spread. Libraries in the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Spain and beyond are providing opportunities for their communities to directly share stores, photos, and other primary sources recording their experience.

A child's drawing depicting COVID-19

The Municipal Libraries of Huesca asked children to respond to COVID through art.

For born-digital material relating to COVID-19, the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) has launched a call to record web archiving efforts related to the COVID-19 outbreak. You can contribute on behalf of your institution here: Mapping COVID-19 web archive collections.

This work promises not only to help researchers to develop insights to inform future policies, but also societies as a whole to come to terms with what has happened.

Prioritising Digitisation and Access

With the closure of most cultural institutions worldwide, culture is existing on digital platforms more than ever before. In ICCROM’s recent lecture series, Protecting People and the Heritage in Times of COVID, this phenomenon was discussed in terms of ways digital engagement can bring about a paradigm shift in society’s access to and enjoyment of cultural heritage.

An example that was shared by Shubha Chaudhuri of the American Institute of Indian Studies was that of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) knowledge-bearers, who may be losing their ability to sell goods and performances with the closure of marketplaces and collapse of global tourism.

Libraries and museums can play a role in preserving the core value of ICH as social practice – not just as goods to sell – by providing access to diverse cultural expressions through providing a space for them, preserving materials, and promoting digital access.

Moreover, this period of raised awareness of and participation in culture on digital platforms can be an opportunity to promote the importance of digitisation and access to documentary heritage. More than ever before, there is a sense of urgency to implement the policy of digitisation recommended by UNESCO in the 2015 Recommendation for the Preservation and Access to Documentary Heritage, including in Digital Form.

By tapping into this, libraries can promote digitalisation of collections, secure storage and access to a wide audience who may be more receptive than they were pre-COVID.

 

Multi-hazards: facing new threats

Unfortunately, the disruption caused by COVID-19 compounds pre-existing threats in many of the most vulnerable places in the world. International bodies including UNESCO and Interpol have reported an increase in looting at sites and of illicit trafficking of cultural goods on the international art market.

During ICCROM’s lecture, Abdelhamid Saleh of the Egyptian Heritage Rescue Foundation, which is actively working with museums in Yemen, reports that Yemeni museums are struggling with the interface of disaster, armed conflict and COVID-19. We have heard similar feedback from partners working in Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere in the MENA region.

Capacity building in multi-hazard approaches to disaster risk reduction and recovery are necessary. This should include immediate intervention in favour of digitisation and secure storage. In the example from Yemen, museum workers are being trained on security and digital storage, with positive enhancements such as digitised collections beginning to be stored in multiple locations.

Considering that important pieces of documentary heritage are often held in private family collections in the MENA region and elsewhere, addressing these multiple threats are even more dire. There is a need to reach beyond the institution to secure all expressions of cultural heritage.

More than anything, there is a need for international cooperation. Regional practitioners with local knowledge and connections must be backed by a multilateral international effort in order to face these multiple hazards. IFLA is seeking out participation in such partnerships, to ensure libraries and documentary heritage are adequately considered in future interventions.

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In this blog, I’ve identified three areas where the COVID-19 pandemic has affected thinking about how libraries fulfill their mission as memory institutions – archiving the present, digitization and digital access, and developing comprehensive approaches to dealing with risk.

None are new, but in each case, the current situation has helped underline the importance of libraries’ work, and the urgency of action.

But the list is not exhaustive. We would like to hear from you.

What changes to your preservation and conservation practice do you predict for the future?

What new opportunities and challenges will the heritage profession and memory institutions face in the post-COVID world?

We continue to take part in a global conversation with partners in libraries and partner NGOs to help our community face these challenges and take these opportunities to continue preserving and telling our stories.

 

Something Old, Something New: COVID-19’s effect on documentary heritage professionals

The shock of cultural institutions shuttering is beginning to wear off. The world of social distancing might begin feeling like the new normal, even as, depending where in the world you are, there is talk of memory institutions re-opening.

For the past months, we have been living in a world without cultural institutions as public spaces.  We’ve seen museums close their doors, libraries exploring online engagement, and many cultural professionals furloughed or navigating their work from home.

Through this crisis, UNESCO maintains the importance of culture, including a call for greater support to documentary heritage during COVID-19, co-signed by IFLA.

How is the crisis affecting the professionals that are working to preserve and provide access to the world’s cultural heritage? We’ve reached out to documentary heritage practitioners in our international network of Preservation and Conversation (PAC) Centres to reflect on their experience of working through the pandemic.

Q: How have stay-at-home measures affected the preservation work at your institution?

 Library of Congress, USA

Stay-at-home guidance has had a major, and predictable, impact on our work with the physical collections. We have had to stop conservation treatments and laboratory research, along with our collections maintenance projects like shelf reading and condition surveys. We are fortunate to have dedicated staff who are able to make weekly rounds in our storage areas to ensure collections are safe, which has paid off several times. The weather is not on lockdown and accidents can always happen.

Many of our digital preservation activities are not only active, but have taken on special significance. We are working on COVID web archiving projects along with several international partners, for example. Our digital resources, and the infrastructures for preservation and access that support them, are more in demand than ever. Our digital content management projects continue more or less as before.

 

National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS), Trinidad and Tobago:

 Trinidad and Tobago has taken emergency measures to curtail the spread of Covid-19. A Stay-at-Home order has been in effect since 27 March with only essential services asked to report to work.

The National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS) has closed its facilities to the public, ramping up its online services and permitting only designated staff access to the National Library Building which houses the Heritage Library and the Preservation Lab.

The hands-on work of conservation and preservation, that is, the direct work with collections – the assessment, diagnostic and treatment phases, as well as cataloguing and digitization – have all been placed on hold.

 

Library for Foreign Literature, Russia:

The mayor of Moscow announced a regime of self-isolation from 30 March to 1 May.

During this period, only organisations and business that cannot stop their activities due to production and technical conditions, those providing citizens with essential goods, those providing warehousing and logistics services, emergency response, and construction are able to continue working. Therefore, until 1 May, the Center for the Conservation and Restoration of Documents at the Russian Library for Foreign Literature does not work. It is not yet clear whether such instructions will be extended.

The regime of self-isolation was introduced gradually, at first only for a week, and then extended. It was therefore difficult to prepare for it.

It’s important to note that the situation differs between Russian regions. For example, our colleagues from Siberia are making videos instructing readers on how to repair books themselves.

 

National Library and Documentation Service Board of Sri Lanka:

 The lockdown in Sri Lanka has certainly affected the preservation work at the National Library. The National Library has completely closed for staff and visitors from 23 March.

 

National Library of Australia:

We are continuing preservation work at the National Library of Australia through a variety of means, namely those staff working from home are working on procedure review updating processes and completing research that often we don’t get time to do as part of our day-to-day business.

Two tasks we are looking into are a complete review of our care and handling training we provide Library staff and researching new approaches to exhibition furniture and material off-gassing needs.

  

Q: Is your team working remotely, still on location, or a mix of the two?

 National Diet Library, Japan:

In Tokyo, people are asked to stay home but it isn’t as strict as in some other countries for now. Staff in the preservation division of the National Diet Library are split between remote working and on-location.  About one third of staff members work at home or take a day off in rotation.

 

Library of Congress, USA: 

We are almost entirely remote agency-wide, though the details vary group by group. We do have essential staff on site to ensure the safety of the buildings and collections, but the number is strictly limited and they are scheduled to minimize contact.

About half the Preservation staff have full time telework projects to carry us through the next several months, and others have part-time projects or training they can complete online.

Our digital content management staff have shifted to full telework mode, with some significant adjustments having been made to allow teamwork to continue using a variety of tools to support remote collaboration.

 

National Library of Australia:

 Our Digital Preservation team is working solely from home which has impact on their technical ability to process collection items. All of this work continues, just a little more slowly. Some work, such as the processing of obsolete carriers, has pretty much ceased.

The rest of the lab team is working on a roster system, part of the week at home, the other at work. This enables our core treatment work to continue and provide support to the Library’s digitisation programme. While the Library building is closed, we have also taken the opportunity to undertake a comprehensive condition report and clean of all objects on permanent display. This task otherwise gets scheduled into the small hours before the building opens to the public or after hours, so it is a good opportunity to do this now.

It also provides the team with good social distancing opportunities as we aim to have a Team A working in the morning, Team B in the afternoon.

 

Q: What work has been possible to achieve? How have priorities shifted during this time?

National Diet Library Japan:

Naturally, conservation works are slowing down, as conservators cannot take library books home, but haven’t stopped. We will need to cancel or postpone training workshops and other events unless the situation improves dramatically.

 

Library of Congress, USA: 

First and foremost, in times like these we are very much the Library of Congress, with many of staff fully engaged in providing information to our legislators to support their work in the face of this pandemic. I am sure that many of our colleagues in IFLA national and parliamentary libraries are doing the same and it certainly makes me proud of our profession.

This period has allowed many preservation staff a welcome opportunity to dig into research and to do thoughtful, uninterrupted work to create research guides and educational materials, or to work on complex problems.

This crisis has been valuable in helping us stress-test both our priorities and our procedures. So, while our ultimate goals and major priorities remain, we have learned a great deal about how to achieve them. I see this as a good time to ask which processes were resilient and which need to be refined, retired, or redesigned.

 

NALIS, Trinidad and Tobago:

Even though direct work with the collections have been paused, staff are focussed on outreach and professional development. Outreach efforts are being ramped up via social media outlets with events such as tutorials on preserving family heirlooms, pictures and documents and other community engagements planned via Facebook and the NALIS website.

Events such as ‘this day in history’ for Trinidad and Tobago are ongoing and online tours of our large catalogue of exhibits and displays are also planned. Programmes that would have been held, such as our First Time Authors, celebrating newly published authors in commemoration of World Book and Copyright Day, will now be featured online.

Some consultative work is still being done, but these pertain to collaborative projects in train before the shut down and these are via the usual communication media and a limited reference service is in effect using NALIS’ online heritage resources and askNalis facility.

One of NALIS’ priorities has always been the financial sustainability of the PAC Lab and the preservation projects and efforts. It is even more so now in the straightened economic circumstances that would exist in a world battling with the pandemic.

 

Library for Foreign Literature, Russia:

At the moment, there is a process of editing the translation of IFLA guidelines and working on the National Program for the Preservation of Library Collections. Due to the fact that restorers cannot work remotely, the focus was shifted towards methodological activities.

 

National Library and Documentation Service Board of Sri Lanka:

 The National Library has strengthened digital services during lock down period. This includes assistance offered to our communities via the telephone, and on social media like the National Library Facebook page.

 

National Library of Australia:

We are maintaining some focus on our main treatment programmes but these will experience delays because of the reduced time at the bench to undertake treatments.

We have been able to address a lot of tasks we just never got to previously and as discussed above – procedure review, some professional reading. Digital preservation work continues – just at a slower than normal rate due to the technological issues of working off site.  

Q: What comes next? Has there been discussion in your region over what will come next for preservation, or over lasting changes to the field after COVID-19?

 

National Diet Library Japan:

We haven’t yet discussed possible changes to our work after COVID-19, but I am not expecting any significant changes for preservation.

 

Library of Congress, USA: 

The initial deliberations about how to reopen are starting and preservation experts have been important contributors to the working groups on this topic. The Institute for Museum and Library Services has convened several Federal agencies, including the Library of Congress, to work with medical and public health experts to develop guidance for the field.

In preservation, there is always a long future to look forward to. The Library of Congress is celebrating its 220th anniversary this month and we look forward to sharing our beautiful spaces and great collections for another 220 years and beyond.

 

NALIS, Trinidad and Tobago:

The NALIS PAC Lab – as an IFLA PAC Centre – has reached out to its regional partners in the form of a simple survey to discuss preservation in the time of COVID-19. We are awaiting feedback.

 

Library for Foreign Literature, Russia:

At the moment, this is unknown. However, I think that work will continue ahead in the usual manner.

We collect information about the processing of books after the pandemic, but for ourselves we have so far revealed the main idea – two-week quarantine is universal, safe for books and does not cost a lot of money.

 

National Library and Documentation Service Board of Sri Lanka:

The National Library has issued guidelines regarding the exit strategy from COVID-19 for libraries in Sri Lanka.

 

National Library of Australia:

I don’t believe there has been any discussion about what next, as the Australian community is still in the ‘what to do now’ phase. The latest from the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials (AICCM) is available here.  At this stage, I have not heard anything in relation to changes regarding digital preservation.

 

In conclusion

Documentary heritage professionals are facing varying degrees of stay-at-home measures around the world. Despite setbacks and the limited access to materials, work has been able to continue.

Providing support to government, reflecting on processes, diving into research and methodological work, and shifting the focus to digital communications are examples of how professionals keep preservation and access to documentary heritage moving ahead through the pandemic.

As the focus shifts from “what to do now” to “what comes next”, it is vital that this work is allowed to continue forward and develop in a positive direction thanks to the lessons we have learned during this time.

In the words of the PAC Centre at the Library of Congress, USA, “In preservation, there is always a long future to look forward to”.

We look forward to navigating the post-COVID-19 world with access and preservation of cultural heritage continuing to be upheld as a priority.

 

Sustainability, Authenticity, Awareness, Access: Cultural Heritage and Beyond

The activities surrounding this year’s European Day of Conservation-Restoration seek to highlight key themes in the preservation of cultural heritage: sustainability, authenticity, awareness, and access.

These are not only important in preservation, but also resonate with the core tenets of an informed and participatory society. This blog will touch on how applying these themes through cultural heritage can have a greater reach, building on shared values to create connected and informed communities.

 

Sustainability

The topic of sustainability is far-reaching, and it must be. As we are well aware through the Sustainable Development Goals, incorporating a sustainable framework within all elements of global development is key to securing a brighter future for humanity.

Conservators in archives, museums, libraries and beyond work to ensure that primary sources of our heritage are sustained for future generations of study.

They make it possible for society at large to experience, value and share these elements of their culture.  As the British Council states in their 2018 report, Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth:

When people engage with, learn from, value and promote their cultural heritage, it can contribute to both social and economic development. An inclusive way of working, that engages individuals and communities in their heritage, and supports institutions and nations to effect positive change for all levels of society, can lead to economic growth and better social welfare. Heritage in this way can be a source of sustainability, a way to embed growth in the fabric of society and to celebrate the past in today’s evolving world.

 Finding methods through which all individuals see themselves reflected in society and invited to take part, through media, accessible spaces and participatory policy, is a contributor to the sustainable development of connected communities

 

Authenticity

 How valuable is the knowledge that our physical cultural heritage is authentic? The Nara Document on Authenticity states:

In a world that is increasingly subject to the forces of globalization and homogenization, and in a world in which the search for cultural identity is sometimes pursued through aggressive nationalism and the suppression of the cultures of minorities, the essential contribution made by the consideration of authenticity in conservation practice is to clarify and illuminate the collective memory of humanity.

Authenticity is about accurate representation, and determining it requires the skills of careful reading and critical thinking. Identifying authenticity in the information and media we consume is among the defining themes of our times.

Teaching how to value and determine authenticity, within cultural heritage and beyond, trains the skills required to think critically about the information we consume.

 

Awareness

Participatory societies are informed societies. Individuals and communities can best engage with, learn from, value and promote their cultural heritage when they are invited to do so.

Days like the European Day of Conservation-Restoration help to raise awareness of the work being done in what might otherwise be considered closed-off spaces. Awareness of one another’s cultural values through heritage helps build mutual respect and understanding.

Advocacy is important! Find ways to share the work you’re doing in a way that resonates with people. Tell stories and invite conversation. Awareness-raising of the value of services and spaces which build connected, informed societies helps ensure that they remain available for generations to come.

 

Access

Closely tied to raising awareness is ensuring that there are mechanisms in place to connect people with their heritage. Inclusive representation of cultures connects communities to their past and to one another.

In broader terms, access to information is a central tenet of democracy.  Suppressing information, in the same way as suppressing culture, limits the right to think, act and express oneself freely.

Access also means building accessible spaces which invite all individuals to take part in culture, governance and civil society – despite language, ability, identity, age and gender. This reaches far beyond access to cultural heritage.

However, connecting people to their heritage can be part of a broader aim to uphold the freedom of expression and access to information that is at the heart of an informed democratic society.

 

Cultural heritage can allow for greater engagement with the public sphere. Institutions which conserve heritage, provide opportunities to learn about it, and allow conversations to grow around it can be models of an inclusive approach to engagement on a societal level.

How do you build on these values in your area of the profession?

Culture, Community and (Social) Capital: The Role of Libraries

The work of Eric Klinenberg on the role of libraries as social infrastructure has received a lot of attention in the library world.

Based on his research among residents of New York, he heard countless stories of people whose lives had been changed – improved – through the time they had spent in libraries, through their contact with librarians.

His arguments are based strongly on the idea of social capital – the connections between people that allow them to work together more effectively.

In making this link between libraries and social capital, Klinenberg brings our institutions into a space where those interested in museums and sites have long been active – the connection between cultural institutions and places and community well-being (for example here).

A day after World Habitat Day, in the European Week of Regions and Cities, and ahead of the launch of the Climate Heritage Network, this blog looks further at this connection, and in particular the challenges it faces.

 

Social Capital

As highlighted, the notion of social capital, in broad terms, is about connections between people. These connections can be based on norms and values – specific beliefs as to what is acceptable or not, and a sense of what is important.

In turn, these norms and values allow people to develop trust, building cooperation and saving time and effort. In times of hardship, it can allow for greater resilience and quicker recovery.

Of course the links in question are not always universal. In talking about social capital, there is talk of bonds and bridges. Bonds are what connect people within a group, and bridges are what connects people in one group with those in another.

Too much focus on links within a single group can be unhealthy, and lead to some being excluded. In order to build the widest possible sense of community, there is a need not only to support internal connectedness, but to provide opportunities to build bridges.

In ensuring both of these, both knowledge and spaces have a role to play. This understanding is already at the heart of reflection on how museums and other heritage sites contribute – through providing common reference points, as well as a space where people can come together.

As Klinenberg’s work points out, this is just as true for libraries.

 

Communities and Climate Change

All sorts of challenges can test the resilience of communities. Economic change, dramatic policy shifts and conflict all force changes to daily life and require adaptation.

Climate change will certainly lead to many such situations, as groups face extreme weather events, need to adopt new ways of living, or even need to abandon villages, towns and cities.

These shifts can be traumatic. Changing habits, structures and economic models may affect the norms and values that underpin social capital.

At worst, the heritage – the buildings and objects which offer a physical reference point, the documents and ideas that offer a mental one, and the spaces that enable interaction – are at risk of being lost.

The consequence of this can be to reduce social capital, both within groups, and between them, at a time when it is needed most. It can make recovery and adaptation slower and longer, if it happens at all.

At best, just as in the cases identified by Klinenberg in his own work in New York, libraries can offer both the space and the substance necessary for building social capital, even in situations of hardship, and so making communities more resilient.

The explicitly public focus of libraries – and their ability to reach out to people who may not identify with other cultural institutions – mean that they have a potentially highly important contribution.

 

It is helpful to see potential for a convergence in the work done by libraries and museums and other heritage institutions on where – and how – they can build social capital.

Given the respective strengths of each, there is also strong scope not just for connections within our sectors, but also across them. In the face of climate change, the chances are that this will be more and more necessary.

9 June – International Archives Day

Today archives are being celebrated around the globe. With many libraries hosting archives, and carrying out archival activities, this is an opportunity to recognise the importance of archivists, in whatever type of institution they work.

IFLA therefore congratulates not only all the great national archives, but also all the local and independent community archives run by volunteers. Because the importance of keeping a record of the present for the benefit of the future is not only important at the level of governments or major companies.

At the local level, archives can help build a sense of local identity and pride, of roots with the past. Community archives act as a “place of preservation” and are brought together by people sharing an interest in finding out about their community and how it developed. They can be of significant importance to social historians and others trying to understand the factors that shape people’s lives.

For example, the Canvey Island Archive is run by people from Canvey Island who took it upon themselves to gather memories, for example by copying photographs and other documents that relate to the history of the Island.

In the United States, archivists worked closely with the residents of Ferguson, Missouri, in order to document the stories of the unrest that shook the town and country. This work is already helping in the process of understanding what happened, and supporting the healing process.

Community archives preserve the past and often create awareness, interest and activity in the wider community. What is so unique about the archives is that they allow groups of people who are often unrepresented or overlooked in their society to identify, explore and celebrate their community and their cultural heritage.

That’s definitely worth celebrating!