IASA-BAAC 2026 Conference

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9:30am EEST

Silences in the Archive: Stories of Transborder Resistance in Mendoza, Argentina During the Last Civil-Military Dictatorship

Wednesday October 21, 2026 9:30am - 10:30am EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

We will share stories from two archives in Mendoza, Argentina, which contain information about the human networks, artistic creations, communication and codes, and experiences of clandestine resistance to dictatorships in the Southern Cone. These stories reveal how, through networks of cooperation, the highest range of the Andes Mountains separating Mendoza and Santiago, Chile, functioned as a hidden bridge between communities. Unregistered stories such as these and the objects surrounding them, due to the secrecy necessitated by their repressive political environment, will remain a lasting silence in archives unless initiatives are taken to register and preserve them.

Páez’s work with the Asociación Ecumenica de Cuyo preserves the archive of the Comité Ecuménico de Acción Social (CEAS), active from 1973 to 1992, which was created to support Chilean exiles in Mendoza during Pinochet’s dictatorship. This collection comprises the case files documenting the passage of Chilean exiles, as well as secret communications between networks of human rights organizations in Santiago and Mendoza. Skinner’s work with Memorias Sonoras includes interviews related to clandestine artistic gatherings and musical composition during the last dictatorship in Argentina. We propose to share stories from these two related projects, draw connections between the encrypted codes in both archives, communicational and musical, and explore the role of the Andes as a connector rather than a border. Finally, we will analyze these sources through the lens of a public consultation realized together in March of 2026, in which many of these ideas were brought forth by members of the community.

Speakers

Mariana Páez

Director, Bibilioteca y Centro de Documentación Mauricio A López

Mariana Páez is the director of the Mauricio A. López Library and Documentation Center in Mendoza, Argentina. As director, she oversees an archive pertaining to ecumenical thought, feminism and liberation theology. The archive includes collections relating to the following figures... Read More →

Andrew Skinner

Co-Director, Memorias Sonoras

Andrew Skinner is the co-director of Memorias Sonoras, an initiative dedicated to supporting musical archives in Mendoza, Argentina, through community collaboration. Over the past three years, through Memorias Sonoras, he managed the preservation of the Zanessi Studios collection... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2026 9:30am - 10:30am EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Long Presentation, In Person

Zoom link https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81977024051
Zoom password 867213

11:00am EEST

AI-CODE, Debunk, and the Evidentiary Future of Audiovisual Archives

Wednesday October 21, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EEST

Events hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania: Great Hall

Preserving the authenticity of digital records in an era of AI-generated content is a growing challenge for archives. This presentation offers one approach through AI-CODE, a Horizon Europe project developing AI-supported services for media asset annotation, content analysis, verification, and credibility assessment. The session will give audiovisual archivists a practical overview of the AI-CODE service ecosystem, with attention to how these tools may support discovery, contextualization, verification, and assessment of audiovisual materials.

The presentation will include an expert contribution from Debunk.org, a Vilnius-based independent technology think tank and NGO working on disinformation analysis, education, research, and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI). Debunk will present AI-CODE’s Media Asset Annotation and Management service (MAAM) created by the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH). MAAM uses AI models for content annotation, retrieval, and media verification, including synthetic media and deepfake detection. For audiovisual archivists, MAAM offers a practical view into AI-assisted annotation, retrieval, and authenticity assessment. The presentation will consider how machine-generated labels, synthetic media detection, and explainable model outputs can contribute to verification-oriented approaches to audiovisual materials, especially where provenance, authenticity, and evidentiary context are at stake. Ample time will be reserved for discussion, with the aim of exploring how AI-CODE services might support real-world archival use cases.

Speakers

Randi Cecchine

researcher, AI-CODE

Randi Cecchine has a background in documentary filmmaking, media education, and educational film distribution. Her work focuses on the intersections of audiovisual archives, artificial intelligence, and media literacy. She has researched AI implementation in audiovisual archives... Read More →

Laura Šėrytė

Head of Projects, Debunk

Laura Šėrytė is Head of Projects at Debunk.org, a Vilnius-based independent technology think tank and non-governmental organization that researches disinformation and runs educational media literacy campaigns. She leads the AI-CODE task on user-centered service validation.

Wednesday October 21, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EEST
Events hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania: Great Hall

Long Presentation, In Person

11:00am EEST

QC for Reformatted Audio Projects

Wednesday October 21, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EEST

Statehood hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

In archival settings, outsourced reformatting projects create an unusual melding between the industrial processes of mass digitization and the uniqueness of archival assets. Mass digitization methods prioritize saving both effort and cost, but institutions often have little time for a systematic approach to quality control. In this talk, we suggest an approach to quality control for reformatted audio that focuses on developing workflows that work for your institution. We will introduce a variety of time-tested tools at our disposal, from developing quality plans to acceptance sampling techniques. We will then suggest other ambits where QC can be applied, and touch on later developments in QC from projects such as Six Sigma and Lean. Finally, we will look at efforts to standardize perceived audio quality in other fields such as broadcasting (PESQ, PEAQ).

Speakers

Marcos Sueiro Bal

Digital Collections Manager, Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College

Marcos Sueiro Bal is the Digital Collections Manager at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York City, USA. Marcos is a member of the technical committees of the Association of Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) and IASA, and was part of the Collection Management... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EEST
Statehood hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Long Presentation, Online - TBD