International Workshop within the Framework of the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI)

Bucharest, Romania, 6-8 June 2017 I Deadline 9 March

We would like to invite you to an international EHRI workshop on Online Access of Holocaust Documents: Ethical and Practical Challenges to be held by the “Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania, Bucharest, on 6-8 June 2017.

Open access

Holocaust documentation is of great interest to the wide public: scholars, museum and archive professionals, educators, journalists, survivors and their families and the general public. Open access to this material has an important role in facilitating research and Holocaust education and in fostering a remembrance culture.

Digital Humanities

In the digital and information age, the free flow of information is considered a key contributor in providing access to knowledge. The emerging field of Digital Humanities provides the tools for making information accessible, by bringing online documents and artifacts held by collection holding institutions. In order to enable online access of Holocaust documents, national and international legal policies, as well as institutional guidelines, need to be considered, and technical challenges need to be surmounted.

Ethical challenges

Providing online access to the archival information poses significant ethical challenges. Academic and broad public interest in this subject and the moral duty of giving access to Holocaust documents may come into conflict with certain unique aspects of Holocaust documentation: the sensitivity of the information exposed and the need to protect the victim`s privacy. If we put these documents online, can we control their use? What type of documents should we put online? Who should have access to it: professionals or the wide public as well? How do we deal with copyright issues and privacy protection? In addition, collection holders on the one hand, and Holocaust researchers and other potential users on the other, may have differing perspectives on the relevance of the available material and varying expectations from the provided access.

Practical challenges

Regarding the level of accessibility, the Holocaust research field also faces some practical challenges such as multi-lingual access, poor online infrastructure or the lack of expertise in digital preservation in various regions/institutions. The workshop will address all practical, legal and ethical challenges that archivists and users confront.

This international workshop addresses museum and archive professionals as well as Holocaust scholars and Digital Humanities professionals.

Read the Call for Papers for more information.

Image: ©Institutul Național pentru Studierea Holocaustului din România “Elie Wiesel”