IASA-BAAC 2026 Conference

You will be able to validate your attendance (Check-In to sessions) using your personal schedule.

9:30am EEST

How Can I Help?

Monday October 19, 2026 9:30am - 12:30pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Can post-disaster recovery projects serve as a framework to prepare for future crises, including armed conflict, where similar audiovisual heritage may be at risk?

This workshop aims to develop a set of best practices for initiating audiovisual heritage recovery projects from outside affected areas, whether impacted by natural disasters or political crises. It proposes a collective reflection based on real case studies, addressing how to effectively design and implement recovery strategies in emergency contexts.
Participants will include both individuals and institutions with direct experience in disaster response, as well as those who have sought to provide support but lacked the necessary tools or frameworks. Through this exchange, the workshop seeks to bridge the gap between intention and effective action.

Drawing on our experience with the project ¡NO LAS TIRES!, focused on the recovery of home movies after the 2026 floods in Valencia, we identified key challenges in responding to dispersed, privately held audiovisual heritage. This type of material—non-institutional, fragile, and deeply embedded in personal memory—requires specific methodologies and coordination strategies.

The workshop will adopt a hands-on format, using real problems encountered during the project to explore context-sensitive solutions. Participants will work through scenarios shaped by different sociopolitical and administrative conditions.

By extending existing disaster preparedness frameworks beyond institutional settings, this proposal emphasizes the need to equip both affected communities and external actors with practical tools for collaboration. These insights may also inform responses to other crises, including those arising from armed conflict.

Speakers

Clara Sánchez-Dehesa

Founder and member, La red de cine doméstico

Clara has over 15 years of experience in audiovisual conservation as a freelancer. Coordinator of the Elias Querejeta Zine Eskola Film Preservation Program since 2018, where she designs training programs and leads practical workshops. She combines her technical work in audiovisual... Read More →

Monday October 19, 2026 9:30am - 12:30pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Workshop, In Person

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

1:30pm EEST

Performing the Archive: An Experiment in Collective Memory in the Face of Technological, Geopolitical and Climate Crisis

Monday October 19, 2026 1:30pm - 4:30pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

This workshop will be an experimental performance-based process that will ask participants to work with scores and notational systems that require collective conversation, rehearsal and performance. Techniques borrowed from conceptual art practice (specifically Robert Smithson's *Nonsites* from 1968) and experimental music practice (the lineage of John Cage, Robert Ashley, Pauline Oliveros, and Anthony Braxton) will be discussed and workshopped, with scores provided to participants to begin the process. The scores that we will work with do not require a music background and in fact do not need to be used to produce music or sound. At their root, they are orientation devices and engines for creating collective movement. Through reading and thinking about scores--which are by definition, *prescriptive* and *descriptive*-- we will think through how our archives work in their current state and theorize different possible outcomes for memory work when the sites which house this work are (already) under attack or may be imminently under threat.

At stake are questions about how the human resources of memory, ritual, and performance can be leveraged to tackle questions around the preservation of community and institutional archives in the face of the massive global crises that we currently face and their impact on natural and physical resources. Beyond an engagement with conceptual art and experimental music practice, this workshop will draw from the theory and practice of Counter Archives, the Dark Forest of Theory of the Internet, Mutual Aid, and environmental activism.

Speakers

Alex Waterman

Music & Audiovisual Archivist World Music Archives, World Music Archives and Music Library, Wesleyan University.

Alex Waterman was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1975. He is a cellist and composer as well as a musicologist, curator, and archivist, currently the audiovisual archivist atthe World Music Archives at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. A founding member of the Plus-Minus... Read More →

Monday October 19, 2026 1:30pm - 4:30pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Workshop, In Person

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

11:00am EEST

Archives as a Witness: A Case of National Social Security Fund-Uganda

Tuesday October 20, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Four years ago the National Social Security Fund of Uganda faced a parliamentary probe. This probe requested for archives dating back in the 80s, fortunately, the Fund had digitised its records dating the late 1970s and all the records and archives were available within the required time. This amazed the probe, because like most institutions in developing countries, there is a poor culture of records keeping and moreso challenges of resources to digitise their records. To us, when we digitised our archives was focus was for preservation and future, little did we know, that our archives would become the much needed witness we needed. In this presentation, we share our digital transformation journey, how the decision to digitise saved us and is now contributing to the strategic direction of the organisation, the challenges and some of the emerging technologies we are adopting to meet the demands of our users and clients.

Speakers

Winny Nekesa Akullo

Records Manager, National Social Security Fund - Uganda

Winny Nekesa Akullo is a Records and Information Management professional at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) with expertise in institutional records governance, archives management, and digital transformation. Her work focuses on strengthening records systems, ensuring regulatory... Read More →

Shaban Bwayo

Tead Leader - Records, National Social Security Fund - Uganda

Shaban Bwayo is a records management professional for over 10 years. He is currently a Tead leader - records at the National Social Security Fund. He is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Records and Archival Management at Makerere University

Tuesday October 20, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Long Presentation, In Person

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

12:00pm EEST

Voices That Won’t Be Erased: Archiving Nairobi’s Gen Z Maandamano

Tuesday October 20, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

In 2024, Nairobi’s streets pulsed with the energy of the Maandamano Gen Z protests — a youth-led wave of civic expression that transformed public spaces into arenas of resistance, identity, and democratic engagement. Mobile phones became lifelines of memory, capturing videos, photographs, voice notes, and live streams that documented a generation demanding to be heard. During this period, the Directorate of Records and Archives Management working alongside the Governor’s Media team at Nairobi City County Government took on the critical responsibility of documenting and preserving these moments. Their work focused on safeguarding voices often excluded from official narratives through the structured archiving of digital and audiovisual content.

This paper recounts the process of capturing Nairobi’s protest memory to addressing complex issues of authenticity, consent, and safety. It highlights the ethical responsibility of archival practices, recognizing that archives are not neutral but active spaces where inclusion, exclusion, and meaning are shaped. Using a narrative approach, the paper examines how protest footage, interviews, and citizen recordings were appraised and preserved. It explores the challenges of verifying content, protecting contributors, and ensuring fair representation, particularly for young voices that are frequently absent from formal archives.

In moments of civic tension, archives serve as spaces of truth-telling and accountability, bridging generations and preserving collective memory. This case demonstrates the vital role of local archival practice in protecting identity, authenticity, and historical memory during periods of social transformation.

Speakers

SUSAN KIBAARA

DEPUTY DIRECTOR RECORDS AND ARCHIVES MANAGEMENT, NAIROBI CITY COUNTY MANAGEMENT

Susan Wambui Kibaara is the Deputy Director of County Records and Archives Management at the Nairobi City County Government, where she leads all records management functions. She is responsible for policy development, staff supervision, budget planning, training, and ensuring compliance... Read More →

Tuesday October 20, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Short Presentation, In Person

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

1:30pm EEST

Digital Preservation and Conservation of the Audiovisual Collections in Archives in South Africa In Times Peace and War

Tuesday October 20, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Globally, archives exist to preserve rare and archival collection of enduring nature. Audiovisual (AV) recordings specifically need to be preserved from factors such as water, fire, temperature and humidity which have a potentiality to destroy them permanently. Wars also pose threat as fragile and rare AV recordings can be destroyed in archives during the war. As the world is in digital era, traditional archives need to adapt to the era to ensure long term preservation and optimal accessibility of the archival audiovisual collection even post wars. Digital preservation of audiovisual heritage in archives is of utmost important to protect their originality, authenticity and uniqueness. Adequate digital storage facilities, outside replication centres and data security are essential to ensure protection of the AV collections. The purpose of this study was to investigate digital preservation of AV collections to ensure that the archival collections are still accessible post wars. The study adopted the qualitative research approach. To collect in-depth data, seven AV archivists were interviewed virtually. Interview schedule was used to collect data. The findings indicated that all archives in South Africa are busy digitising their AV heritage. The findings indicate that there is a backlog in the digitisation of millions of AV recordings. More budget is also essential for the archives to buy requisite state-of-the-art equipment to digitise AV collections. With adequate budget, more qualified archivists can be employed to accelerate digitisation. The study recommended cloud storage of the digitised AV collections so that they are accessible post wars.

Speakers

Samuel Maredi Mojapelo

Full Professor, University of South Africa

Samuel Maredi Mojapelo (PhD) is the Professor in the Department of Information Science, University of South Africa (Unisa). He worked as a teacher in Limpopo province for 22 years. After that, he joined the Gauteng Department of Basic Education in 2008 as a Senior Education Specialist... Read More →

Tuesday October 20, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Long Presentation, In Person

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

2:30pm EEST

Future-Proofing AV Archives in Europe during Uncertain Times

Tuesday October 20, 2026 2:30pm - 3:00pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Which risks and threats are AV archives facing in the current geopolitical moment? And how can AV archives learn from global best practices for contending with climate risk, political instability and military conflict? These concerns have been central in a recent collaborative project with the Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision (NISV) for which more than 25 AV archivists from 15 European countries were interviewed in 2025. The resulting report, “Future-Proofing the AV Archive: Pathways to Resilient Heritage in Uncertain Times,” draws attention to the precautions that archives are currently taking against diverse risks and threats, and outlines the potential to further improve their disaster preparedness.

This presentation will first identify examples of how AV archives in Europe are currently learning from their peers about maintaining archival services in the context of war (e.g. Ukraine’s Suspilne broadcaster) and from the emergency response/recovery protocols developed by institutions exposed to severe storms, floods, bushfires, and earthquakes (e.g. across the Asia-Pacific region). It will then outline how – in collaboration with NISV – we together developed an interactive digital story “Heritage under threat” that uses the Dutch history of radio archivists protecting at-risk collections during German military occupation (1940-45) in order to frame the topic of threats faced by AV archives today. The presentation will end with a critical reflection on how such digital formats can be used to engage the broader public and archive professionals in the ‘story’ of AV archives as well as the critical need to protect AV collections in uncertain times.

Speakers

Carolyn Birdsall

Associate Professor of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam

Carolyn Birdsall is Associate Professor of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam. Her publications include Nazi Soundscapes (2012) and Radiophilia (2023), as well as “Listening to the Archive” (2019, co-ed. V. Tkaczyk) and “Historical Traces of European Radio Archives” (2022, co-ed. E. Harrison). Along with leading the funded research projects TRACE (2019-2024) and AV-DATA (2024-2-26), she previously served as Vice-C... Read More →

Tuesday October 20, 2026 2:30pm - 3:00pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Short Presentation, In Person

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

3:30pm EEST

Collecting Conflict: An Australian Perspective

Tuesday October 20, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a shrine, a museum and an archive, committed to telling Australia’s continuing story of service, sacrifice and military history.

Within the archive, the audiovisual collection holds over one hundred thousand items, in all formats, that record the Australian experience of and connection to war and conflict throughout the 20th and 21st centuries – from pre-Federation colonial wars to ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Since its inception in the middle of the First World War, the AWM has been collecting stories and recordings of war from front lines, war zones and military bases across the world, as well as from the Australian home front and community. Through a retrospective of the AWM collection and its acquisition and collection development history, this paper will explore the many different means of collecting before, during and after a conflict, and how this has changed over time.

It will also consider the practical and ethical considerations of collecting, working with, sharing and displaying such content, with particular focus on recent AWM exhibitions – Operation Kudu: supporting Ukraine and Action! Film & War.

Speakers

Sarah Kershaw

Senior Curator, Australian War Memorial

Sarah Kershaw is Senior Curator of Photographs, Film and Sound at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. She is the lead curator of the current exhibition Operation Kudu: supporting Ukraine, co-curator of the upcoming Action! Film & War, and has been involved in the development o... Read More →

Tuesday October 20, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Short Presentation, In Person

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

4:00pm EEST

IASA Ambassadors Committee Meeting

Tuesday October 20, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

The IASA Ambassadors was conceived in 2018 as a flexible platform for informal information exchange, networking, and knowledge-sharing. The program seeks to decenter traditional hierarchies by fostering connections between large, well-resourced institutions and smaller cultural and community-based archives. IASA Ambassadors aims to forge informal network building - between archivists who may be working as “lone arrangers” in the developing world, and colleagues in large scale archives throughout the globe. In doing so, it aligns with broader efforts to redistribute authority, amplify underrepresented voices, and recognize the value of localized knowledge within a global archival ecosystem.

In this meeting, open to all members willing to take part, we will discuss the Ambassador Committee role as a relational and transformative practice. Rather than viewing outreach solely as dissemination, we will work searching for reciprocal processes of engagement that enables transnational knowledge circulation and collaborative meaning-making.

Speakers

Ambassadors Committee

Chair, IASA committee

IASA Ambassadors
A IASA Ambassador is a IASA Member who represents IASA on a community, national or exceptionally, a regional level (e.g., Latin America or Southern African).There may be more than one Ambassador in any one country. Once approved by the IASA Executive Board, Ambassadors will be listed... Read More →

Tuesday October 20, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Committee Meeting, Hybrid

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

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

10:30am EEST

Between Material Decay and Political Erasure: Preserving a 16mm Newsreel of the Plaza de Mayo Bombing (Argentina, 1955)

Wednesday October 21, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

We present a work in progress based on a 16mm film reel from the First Argentine Television News Programme, which recounts the events of the 1955 bombing of Plaza de Mayo and the Government House by military aircraft, intended to overthrow President Juan Domingo Perón. Amidst a turbulent political climate that proved crucial for the subsequent decades, the event deepened the long-standing tension between Peronism and anti-Peronism that continues to this day. It was one of the largest attacks in Argentine history, resulting in the murder of more than 300 civilians. The coup d’état was finally carried out three months later with the self-proclaimed Liberating Revolution taking power – an extreme right-wing opposition that sought to liberate the people from Perón’s ‘tyranny’. This attack was effectively rendered invisible for many decades and, despite some research that emerged from the return to democracy in 1983 to this day, it has failed to be recalled in the collective memory.

More than 70 years later, through a private job, this material presented numerous challenges for us: an advanced case of vinegar syndrome and, on a personal level, political contradictions associated with working on a broadcast featuring anti-democratic discourse alongside rare footage of corpses and the aftermath of the attack. However, it also provided an opportunity to take a specialised approach to a deteriorating film and to bring the event back into public debate, at a time when Argentina’s far right is drawing inspiration from the Liberating Revolution and using the rhetoric of ‘freedom’ once again.

Speakers

Laura Gómez Gauna

Co-coordinator of the Commission on Archives and Audiovisual Heritage, Argentine Association for Film and Audiovisual Studies (AsAECA)

Independent conservator. She holds a diploma in the Preservation of Photographic, Sound and Audiovisual Collections from the National School of Restoration and Museography from Ibermemoria. She was awarded a scholarship to the Film Preservation & Restoration School Latin America by... Read More →

Mayumi Romina Higa

Teacher, National University of Arts, Argentina

Conservator and restorer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She graduated in Conservation and Restoration from the National University of Arts and holds diplomas in Audiovisual Preservation and Restoration from the University of Buenos Aires and in Cultural Mediation from the Latin... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2026 10:30am - 11:00am EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Short Presentation, In Person

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

11:00am EEST

Voices from the End of the World: The Koluel Archive as a Safeguard of Memory, Identity, and Audiovisual Authenticity in the Malvinas Conflict

Wednesday October 21, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

This paper presents the Koluel oral and audiovisual archive project, focused on the memories of Southern Patagonia, and its dedicated collection on the Malvinas War (1982). It will analyze how this community archive stands as a fundamental tool for safeguarding memory in post-war contexts, addressing the challenges of constructing regional identity through direct testimonies and, crucially, the technical and ethical issues surrounding the authenticity of audiovisual supports. The presentation aims to contribute to the debate on the role of regional archives in preserving peripheral narratives and the need for collaborative standards to ensure the faithful transmission of these memories to future generations.

Speakers

Gustavo Navarro

Teacher, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral . UNPA

Director del proyecto Memorias de la Patagonia Austral .

Wednesday October 21, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Short Presentation, In Person

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

11:30am EEST

Ukrainian Non-State Film Collections in Wartime: Liminal Archivism and Decolonial Reframing

Wednesday October 21, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

While the Soviet film archive exemplified a colonial model of cultural preservation, serving a centralised, militarised state and determining which films and language versions deserved conservation; national archives in the ‘no-longer-post-Soviet’ space (Tlostanova 2024), particularly in Ukraine, largely emulated this structure. Their collections were built around state studio feature production, however, often remaining incomplete and improvised due to the unwillingness of the Russian film archives to repatriate non-Russian films to their countries of production. Meanwhile, Ukrainian students’ works, amateur films, ‘useful cinema’ (Acland and Wasson 2011), and other ‘ephemeral’ forms (Prelinger 2006) remained in a preservation grey zone. Russia’s neocolonial war against Ukraine has further foregrounded the vulnerability of state archival collections, including those of the Dovzhenko Centre and the Central State Audiovisual and Electronic Archive, while also prompting significant discoveries outside formal institutional frameworks. These findings challenge the notion of national film heritage and raise questions about the future of these materials. This paper examines three examples of liminal archives: 1) an amateur film collection compiled by Oleksandr Makhanets at the Lviv Center for Urban History; 2) rushes of popular science films discovered by Oleksii Radynskyi in the Kyivnaukfilm studio attic; and 3) a collection of student films identified by Alik Derman and Volodymyr Prylutskyi at the Ukrkinokhronika/Karpenko-Kary University facilities. Despite the fact that a number of these materials have been catalogued, digitised, or publicly screened, there is still a lack of clarity regarding their long-term preservation in proper environmental condition.

Speakers

Oleksandr Teliuk

Postgraduate Researcher, Queen Mary University of London

Oleksandr Teliuk is a film archivist, scholar, artist, and currently a postgraduate researcher at Queen Mary University of London. As a film archivist, he worked at the Dovzhenko Center, the Ukrainian state film archive (2015–23), where he headed the non-film archives department... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Short Presentation, Online - TBD

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

12:00pm EEST

Community Archives: Refugee Narratives and Political Prisoners’ Histories

Wednesday October 21, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

The Digital Repository of Ireland is a Core Trust Seal-certified repository for the preservation of Ireland’s humanities, cultural heritage, and social sciences digital data for long-term access and discovery.

Since 2018, the DRI has run a Community Archive Award scheme, allowing unfunded archives and researchers the opportunity to avail of preservation services at the DRI, providing training and assistance to the winners and making these collections accessible to both the communities they represent and the wider public.

The winner in 2020 was the ‘Asylum Archive’, a collection that documents life under Ireland's Direct Provision system, collected by artist and activist Vukašin Nedeljković. This collection represents a hugely important effort to capture the experience of the Direct Provision System in Ireland.

The winner in 2026 was the ‘Long Kesh Style’ collection. This is an exceptional collection of historical documents relating to the conflict in Northern Ireland known as ‘the Troubles’ (1968-1998). The collection comprises hundreds of prison letters, communiqués, crafts, and other artefacts. Curated by Holly Lennon, this collection seeks to centre the stories of protesting and non-protesting republican prisoners who have been censored politically and historically, and whose voices are absent from dominant institutional archives.

This paper explores the importance of the Community Archive Scheme and its role in giving visibility to alternative narratives and fostering a more inclusive understanding of social and political history, represented in these two collections.

Speakers

Holly Lennon

Executive Officer, Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS)

Holly Lennon is a writer from Belfast. She began collecting archival material from Long Kesh prison while completing her master's degree in English literature, during which she wrote her thesis on Bobby Sands and the 1976–1981 prison protests. A bursary from The Bobby Sands Trust... Read More →

Noelia Romero

Digital Archivist and Training Manager, Digital Repository of Ireland

Noelia Romero holds the position of training manager and digital archivist as part of the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) team based at the Royal Irish Academy (RIA). In her role, Noelia provides expert advice and hands-on assistance to DRI members to facilitate the ingest, preservation... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Short Presentation, In Person

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

2:00pm EEST

IASA DEI Committee Meeting

Wednesday October 21, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee is pleased to hold its 2026 meeting in Vilnius, welcoming both in-person and online participation from committee members (existing and new) and anyone from the IASA organisation or conference community.

This meeting addresses the practical work of the committee - strengthening equitable and inclusive practices within the organisation, and pro-actively supporting the diverse contributions and perspectives that shape the organisation and its networks of practice in the field. This work concerns all activities and practices within IASA, while also looking outward to the diverse contexts of real-world practice in the wider audiovisual archiving field.

We encourage attendees to share current concerns and forward-looking ideas during the meeting, to inform the planning of activities and strategies for 2026-2028. This process itself supports the organization’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In line with the work of the committee, we welcome input from IASA’s varied communities, networks and areas of practice.

For more information about the committee, see: https://iasa-web.org/diversity-equity-inclusion-committee.

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 →

Ketevan Davitashvili

Archivist, Tbilisi State Conservatoire

Ketevan Davitashvili is a performer, sound artist, and archivist from Tbilisi, Georgia. She works as an archivist at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire and specializes in the digitization of unique recordings of Georgian folk songs and interviews from magnetic tapes at the Tbilisi State... Read More →

Helen Grogan

Visiting Fellow, University of Amsterdam

Helen Grogan is an artist, curator, researcher, and lecturer based in Amsterdam and Naarm/Melbourne. She is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, University of Amsterdam (2026–2027), and a Samstag International Visual Arts Scholar (2025–2026... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Committee Meeting, Hybrid

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

11:00am EEST

Wartime Recordings of Voskovec and Werich: Optical Digitisation of Damaged Lacquer Discs Using the INA-Saphir System: Technical Resilience and Preservation Refresh Strategies

Thursday October 22, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

The Sound Laboratory of the National Museum has recently expanded its preservation workflows for severely degraded historical sound recordings through the implementation of non-contact optical scanning technologies. Since 2023, the INA-Saphir system has been used to digitise lacquer discs that cannot be safely reproduced using conventional mechanical playback. This approach enables the recovery of audio content from cracked, delaminated, and fragmented carriers and represents a viable preservation strategy for vulnerable sound recordings from the World War II period.

This contribution presents a case study of wartime radio broadcasts by Voskovec and Werich, produced during their exile in the United States for transmission to occupied Czechoslovakia. The original lacquer discs, manufactured and used under wartime conditions, exhibit significant material degradation that limits their accessibility today.
Focusing on applied preservation practice, the paper outlines key stages of the optical digitisation workflow, including condition assessment, capture, signal reconstruction, and post-processing. It highlights practical decision-making in handling fragile media and demonstrates how material analysis informs the selection of appropriate digitisation strategies. The case study illustrates how optical scanning can function as a resilience-oriented approach for preserving obsolete and physically compromised audio carriers that are otherwise unplayable.

Speakers

Geoff Tyson

Sound Engineer, National Museum, Czech Republic

Geoff Tyson is an audio engineer at the National Museum in Prague. Since 2020, he has specialized in the restoration, preservation, and digitization of old historical sound carriers from the 19th and 20th century.

Filip Šír

Head of Digitization Department, National Museum, Czech Republic

Filip Šír is a specialist in the preservation of historical audio heritage in the Czech Republic. Since 2012, he has focused on national coordination, digitization, and long-term conservation of sound documents. He works at the National Museum as head of digitization department... Read More →

Thursday October 22, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Long Presentation, In Person

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

12:00pm EEST

A Necessary Challenge: Critical Audio Edition of Hitler’s Speeches 1933-1945

Thursday October 22, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Editing Adolf Hitler’s speeches is a necessary challenge. As key documents produced by perpetrators, they are essential for critically examining the Nazi era. Making these sources accessible requires careful ethical consideration. In a joint project, funded by the German Research Foundation, the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (Munich / Berlin), the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, the Marburg University, the Leibniz Institute for German Language (Mannheim) and the German Broadcasting Archive (Frankfurt am Main / Potsdam) will identify, analyse and edit the extensive amount of speeches that Hitler delivered between 1933 and 1945. 735 speeches will be made available as a text edition (digital / print), accompanied by introductions to the current state of knowledge and the historical context. The 346 speeches that have been preserved as audio documents will be made available to a restricted group of users in the form of a critically annotated digital audio edition that can be searched and analysed using advanced machine learning methods. This edition will enable scholars to answer specific questions that remained unresolved due to the limited accessibility of the sources in the past. At the same time, the edition aims at our present: analysing Hitler’s speeches enables comparisons to be drawn with the language used by contemporary extremists and populists. Next to providing an overview of the project as a whole, the presentation will be given from the perspective of the archive and will focus on the audio edition: We will reflect on the challenges of (a) compiling and documenting a collection that has been preserved in different archives across Europe as a result of World War II, (b) digitising audio sources that have been preserved on different carriers, in different formats and in various conditions, and (c) – our key aspect – digitally restoring a heterogeneous collection of audio files, which makes it difficult to adopt a consistent technical approach.

Speakers

Simon Frei

Audio Engineer, Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv / German Broadcasting Archive

Since 2024, Simon Frei has been responsible for the digitisation, digital processing, and restoration of audio recordings in the research project "Critial Edition of Hitler's Speeches 1933-1945". With 20 years of professional experience as a sound engineer specialising in the production... Read More →

Dr. Götz Lachwitz

Research Specialist / Project Manager, Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv / German Broadcasting Archive

Dr. Götz Lachwitz has been a research specialist at the German Broadcasting Archive (DRA) in Potsdam-Babelsberg since August 2020. Following an apprenticeship as an audio engineer, he went on to study Media Studies in Bonn. He then worked as an academic assistant at the University... Read More →

Thursday October 22, 2026 12:00pm - 12:30pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Short Presentation, In Person

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

1:30pm EEST

Beyond Checksums: Conformance Checking as a Core Component of Authentic Digital Preservation

Thursday October 22, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Born-digital audiovisual collections increasingly enter archives with incomplete provenance information, heterogeneous production environments, and varying levels of technical quality. While checksum-based fixity methods reliably confirm bit-level stability after transfer, they do not reveal structural defects already present within files—defects that may affect authenticity, accessibility, and long-term preservation decisions.

This joint presentation brings together archival practice and tool development by the Austrian Mediathek and Jerome Martinez, developer of the MediaInfo project. From the institutional perspective, the Austrian Mediathek presents how systematic conformance checking was integrated into ingest workflows for born-digital audiovisual materials and how this reshaped internal assessment and decision-making processes. Based on the analysis of 4,771 incoming files, the archive identified internal inconsistencies such as truncated bitstreams, container irregularities, and mismatches between declared and actual data structures that remain invisible in traditional workflows.

Complementing this practice-based view, the MediaInfo developer introduces the principles behind the conformance checker, explaining how structural analysis at container and bitstream level makes such inconsistencies detectable and interpretable.

By combining operational archival experience with tool-level insight, the presentation demonstrates how conformance checking strengthens authenticity assessment, improves risk awareness at ingest, and supports informed, transparent preservation planning.

Conformance checking complements fixity by making structural integrity visible—turning stability into trust.

Speakers

Marion Jaks

Long term preservation, Österreichische Mediathek

Marion Jaks is a digital archivist at the Österreichische Mediathek (Austrian Mediathek) in Vienna, Austria. She holds a degree in History and completed professional library training at the Austrian National Library. Her work at the Mediathek spans both analogue and digital collections... Read More →

Jérôme Martinez

CEO, Affiliation MediaArea

Lead developer of #MediaInfo and technical consultant to a variety of projects within the fields of broadcast video, audiovisual archiving, and web video.

Thursday October 22, 2026 1:30pm - 2:30pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Long Presentation, In Person

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

2:30pm EEST

Challenges of Discography in the 21st Century

Thursday October 22, 2026 2:30pm - 3:00pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Since 1936, a significant number of discographies have been compiled, which can serve as
secondary sources for further discographic research. But how do we know that the data in a
discography are reliable? What are the criteria for the reliability of discographies? This topic
has been a concern for some discographers since the 1970s. Tim Brooks’ 1996 proposal to
apply the reference system of scientific publications to discographies points to the
methodological issue that, while references were not needed for the first discographies,
following the principle of ’first to do it’, this is no longer acceptable for today’s discographers
especially when using earlier discographies as sources. Brooks’ call has provoked sharp
criticism from parts of the discographic community, arguing that the extensive referencing of
discographic data sets not only overloads the data but also increases printing costs
enormously.

For an online published discography, this problem can be solved in several ways. In addition,
it would now in principle be possible to compile a universal discography from the set of
national discographies, with practical display, search and access options. However, there
appear to be a number of obstacles to the creation of a global discographic database. Some of
the obstacles are financial and IT-related, while others are methodological, such as the issue
of standardisation or the fact that some national discographies have not yet been completed.
In my presentation, I will discuss these two of the current challenges of discography, the
reliability of discographies and the issues of a global discography, using literature and
international examples. The presentation is linked to my research on the history and
methodology of discography funded by the Bolyai János Research Fellowship (2022–2025).

Speakers

Ferenc János Szabó

Senior research fellow, Institute for Musicology, Budapest

pianist and musicologist, senior research fellow at theArchives for 20 th -21 st -Century Hungarian Music at theInstitute for Musicology ELTE RCH and acting director ofthe Library of the Liszt Ferenc Music Academy. Hisresearch focuses on the history of the recorded sound,discography... Read More →

Thursday October 22, 2026 2:30pm - 3:00pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Short Presentation, In Person

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

3:30pm EEST

Technological Resilience and Preservation Refresh Measures in Handling Obsolete Audio-Visual Collections "Silent Archives": The Case of Unisa Library Archives

Thursday October 22, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Audio-visual material kept by the Unisa Library is an important part of heritage and history of various cultures, recording oral traditions, traditional melodies, and events, which were recorded using non-textual media only. A significant portion of audio-visual archives have been rendered obsolete due to quick evolution of formats, degradation of physical medium, out-of-date methods of reproduction, and lack of means for maintenance.

In this article, we explore technical obstacles in handling and conserving audio-visual materials that became obsolete and outline measures aimed at preserving and revitalising such collections to restore their utility. Using case of the Unisa Library Archives, the study considers the state of deterioration, the problem of obsolescent file formats, and necessity of developing preservation refresh strategy involving digitisation and migration.

Specific measures outlined in this study include implementing sustainable processes of digitisation with acquisition of proper playback hardware, software, and related infrastructure, setting up check-summing routines and integrity controls, developing metadata system to guarantee provenance, and employing hybrid on-site and off-site storage facilities. It also includes seeking financial support from heritage sponsors, establishing cooperation to share resources, and developing an audio-visual collection preservation policy including regular refreshing cycles.

In addition, implementing measures of preservation refresh and digitisation will lead to increased technological resilience and will allow addressing the challenge of obsolescence and ensuring access in case of possible disruptions. This study gives practical examples for archivists who want to implement a successful preservation refresh strategy.

Speakers

Lufuno Kgamedi

Archivist, University of South Africa - Library

Ms. Lufuno Kgamedi, an Archivist with sixteen years of experience, began her career in 2009 at the National Archives of South Africa, where she developed her expertise and passion for preserving archival records. In 2013, she joined the University of South Africa (Unisa) Library (Archives... Read More →

Thursday October 22, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Short Presentation, In Person

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

4:00pm EEST

Radio Haiti Archive: Toward a Community Politics of Repatriation

Thursday October 22, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm EEST

Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

This presentation tracks dissertation work on how various groups view the repatriation and return of the Radio Haiti Archive, which the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University in North Carolina, USA, currently houses, and the role the Haitian diaspora plays in such efforts. It tracks the concepts emerging from the literature on archival repatriation, describes two interlocking bodies of theoretically informed scholarship: critical archival studies and anti-colonial archivy that serve as theoretical lenses to help frame the research and through which to examine archival repatriation and return, outlines the case study methodology pursued using specifically the methods of interviews and archival research, and offers findings.

Speakers

Sony Prosper

PhD Student, University of Michigan

Sony Prosper is a Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan School of Information in the United States of America. His research has concerned archival return and repatriation, how members and volunteers of community and grassroots archives conceptualize records, and how their conceptualizations... Read More →

Thursday October 22, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm EEST
Education hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Long Presentation, In Person