1. The archival platform: a new networking, research and advocacy initiative in SA
Presentation at ICADLA-1, Addis Ababa, 1-3 July 2009
Harriet Deacon, Director: Archival Platform
Funded by Atlantic Philanthropies

2. Origins of the Archival Platform
2002 Book:
Refiguring the Archive
2003 report and 2007 meeting:
Cultural Capital / Archives at the Crossroads :
Culture and Heritage Management newsletter

3. About the Archival Platform
Archives & Libraries … Heritage Sites … Museums … Indigenous knowledge and Intangible Heritage
Networking
Research
Advocacy
South African base strengthened by broader African networking

4. The historical record (the archive) …
Contributes to sense of self – individual, community, national, continental
Helps to define the role of the citizen
Helps to identify appropriate interventions to address current problems
Helps us to maintain the accountability of executive institutions

5. The landscape of the archive
Information
Management
Knowledge
Analysis
Evidence
Use

6. Key online networking priorities
Professional collaboration and support
Information sharing across disciplines
Dialogue between government, academics and professionals in the sector
Reaching consultants, younger professionals and students
Raising the public profile of the archive

7. Key projects for 2009-2012 Digitization & use of digital archives
Economics of the sector
Education of professionals in the sector

8. Use of Digitized archives
How are we currently using digital archives and how is this affected by the processes of digitization?
Under what conditions (e.g. a common archival portal of finding aids) can digitization enable wider local use of archival resources, digital or otherwise?
How can we use existing digital resources more effectively to foster critical debate about the past in Africa?
Colloquium planned for end 2009 (with Wits)

9. Conclusion
The Archival Platform is a strategic initiative to help ‘join the dots’ between professionals, academics, government and the public, promoting the importance of the archive and enhancing our capacity to use and manage it
We are a new initiative, drawing from existing work in the area but also looking to new insights and ideas from the broader African networks represented in this conference
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