Living Archives: An Introductory Toolkit for Civil Society Organizations in the Creation of Human Rights Oral Archives and Organizing Their Documentation
Key Guidance
Global Initiative for Justice Truth & Reconciliation (GIJTR) (2021), 151 pp.
"This document was developed as an instrument to support civil society organizations (CSOs) in Colombia in the development of oral archives and in the organization of their archival collections. It draws from the experience of GIJTR partners International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC) and Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), and ICSC members Memoria Abierta (Argentina), Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi (Chile) and Centro de Memoria Monseñor Juan Gerardi (Guatemala), combined with lessons learned in supporting Colombian CSOs in preparing documentation for the Comisión para el Esclarecimiento de la Verdad) Truth Commission. This practical guide highlights basic principles in developing oral archives based on interviews, and in organizing human rights documentation archives. Section 1 focuses on the development of oral archives, and Section 2 offers basic advice on the first steps to help CSOs organize their archives." (About this toolkit)
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE CREATION OF ORAL HUMAN RIGHTS ARCHIVES BASED ON TESTIMONIES, 12
What are oral human rights archives? 12
Documentation uses for oral archives, 13
Taking of testimonies, 20
Formats of testimony recording, 46
Procedures during the interview, 53
Special risk cases, 59
Procedures for group interviews, 61
Stages after taking the testimony, 63
Considerations for the organizations of an oral archive, 64
Strategy examples for the organization of testimonies, 68
Preservation, 74
Custody of oral archives, 80
Access to human rights and memory archives, 82
SECTION 2: AN INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZING AND MANAGING HUMAN RIGHTS ARCHIVES, 87
Guidelines for the organization of documents, 88
Identification, 90
Creating an identification inventory, 94
Classification, 94
Cataloging, 106
Coding of documents on a physical storage medium, 116
Labeling and storage, 118
Digital tools for managing archival documents, 120
Preservation and copies, 120
Custody of human rights archives, 145
SECTION 3: REFERENCES, 148
Some human rights thesauri, 148
Bibliography, 149
Footnotes, 151
What are oral human rights archives? 12
Documentation uses for oral archives, 13
Taking of testimonies, 20
Formats of testimony recording, 46
Procedures during the interview, 53
Special risk cases, 59
Procedures for group interviews, 61
Stages after taking the testimony, 63
Considerations for the organizations of an oral archive, 64
Strategy examples for the organization of testimonies, 68
Preservation, 74
Custody of oral archives, 80
Access to human rights and memory archives, 82
SECTION 2: AN INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZING AND MANAGING HUMAN RIGHTS ARCHIVES, 87
Guidelines for the organization of documents, 88
Identification, 90
Creating an identification inventory, 94
Classification, 94
Cataloging, 106
Coding of documents on a physical storage medium, 116
Labeling and storage, 118
Digital tools for managing archival documents, 120
Preservation and copies, 120
Custody of human rights archives, 145
SECTION 3: REFERENCES, 148
Some human rights thesauri, 148
Bibliography, 149
Footnotes, 151
