Reimagining the Archive: Remapping and Remixing Traditional Models in the Digital Era

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Reimagining the Archive: Remapping and Remixing Traditional Models in the Digital Era

A Three-Day SymposiumNovember 12-14, 2010School of Theater, Film & TelevisionUniversity of California, Los AngelesDigitality has radically and dynamically transformed the role of traditional archives and museums as repositories for revered, to-be-safeguarded cultural objects. As de facto archives created by users and industry organizations proliferate online; as the social engagement and complexity of Web 2.0 culture expand; and as expansive copyright regimes entail ever more intrusive forms of monitoring and enforcement, archives traditional missions of custody and controlled access are being challenged by the new habits and expectations of scholars, researchers, and the general public alike. The unquestioned trust and task of defining the authenticity, provenance, and movement of archival objects and collections once the sole province and prerogative of legacy institutions and expert curators has become more open, participatory, and fluid. In the face of remix culture, archive fever, and emergent long tail phenomena, institutions and rights holders are struggling to come to terms with these new, shared missions and responsibilities. The way ahead for reinventing cultural heritage institutions is uncharted, but inaction is not an alternative. They must adapt or risk irrelevance.Reimagining the Archive will explore the changing role of archives and cultural heritage institutions, and the new opportunities presented by the remapping and remixing of traditional, cherished, and seemingly immutable institutional models and practices. How might archives build new relationships and professional paradigms, and perhaps ultimately a new philosophy of archives and archiving that embrace and enrich the contemporary many to many landscape of media culture?The Symposium aims to bring together archival and cultural scholars, professionals from private and public cultural organizations, mainstream and independent creative artists who make digital media and artworks, and specialists from major information technology and media firms engaged in all aspects of digital asset management, conservation, and preservation.The Symposium will provide a forum for wide-ranging discussion and debate on all aspects of archival practice, technology, and research. Symposium organizers invite the submission of competitive presentations in a range of formats (e.g., papers, posters, interactive demonstrations, media projects, artworks) related to any of the following conference themes, broadly conceived:    Transition 

  • New roles for archives: circulation, annotation, mediation and evaluation 
  • Shifts in institutional focus from archives of objects to archives of events -- from archive as entity/repository to archive as activity and performance
  • The proliferation of de facto archives
  • From audiences to users: from reception to engagement and social production
  • The documentation, annotation and evaluation of emergent and innovative objects, forms, genres, e.g., games, net apps, social media, worlds

 Navigation

  • The changing legal, regulatory, ethical, and policy landscape of digital cultural heritage, nationally and internationally; threats fair use and the public domain
  • Digital creation and clearance culture: remix and policing
  • Intellectual freedom v. digital rights management (DRM)
  • Peer-to-peer architectures and collections
  • The cloud and the archive 
  • Internet, archives, or both? Does the Internet need to be archived? Is it a container of content, content in itself, or both? Can it be archived in the absence of designated archival responsibility or action? 

 Curation

  • The future of archives as knowledge references and authorities
  • Digital challenges to core archival principles
  • Assigning value, selection, collecting
  • The significance of independent / amateur media production
  • Persistence of memory, ecstasy of forgetting: issues of exclusion, selection, sorting, and choice; what to keep and why? Where and when is memory, remembering, forgetting?
  • Archives as memory and knowledge. Digitization and new possibilities for scholarly, analytical and critical reading. Do digital media convey knowledge in a new way, and if so, what kinds of knowledge? What are the implications for education, cultural transmission, and pedagogy?

Submission GuidelinesAll proposals must include the following information:

  • Name, title and affiliation of each author (please indicate student authors)
  • An extended abstract (500 words) describing the presentation, including illustrations or diagrams for installation as needed
  • Requirements for technical support (e.g., AV, space, electrical) required for presentation or installation, if needed
  • First authors name and page numbers on all proposal pages

Student submissions are strongly encouraged.Proposals should be submitted as attachments to email. Please send proposals and other inquiries to:digital@ucla.eduImportant DeadlinesProposals will be considered as they are received Preliminary deadline for receipt of proposals: August 1, 2010 Acceptance notification by September 1, 2010Organized by:

  • UCLA Film & Television Archive
  • UCLA M.A. Program in Moving Image Archive Studies (MIAS)
  • Institut National de lAudiovisuel (INA), Paris
  • INASup / European Centre for Research, Training and Education on Digital Media

With additional support from:

  • National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP), 
  • U.S. Library of Congress
  • Department of Information Studies / 
  • Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, UCLA
  • Cinema & Media Studies Faculty, Department of Film, Television & Digital Media / 
  • School of Theater, Film & Television, UCLA