Rachel Deblinger
Director, Modern Endangered Archives Program
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles Library granting program, Documenting Global Voices, is now the Modern Endangered Archives Program. This new name publicly declares our commitment to the preservation and dissemination of at-risk, modern, archival material as we fund our first round of projects and collect applications for round two. The name change is also an opportunity to reflect on the challenges built into digitizing endangered materials from the 20th and 21st Centuries (including print, photographic, film, audio, ephemeral, and born-digital objects) and the infrastructure needed to make this range of archival objects accessible online. Our program is dedicated to expanding the capacity for digital preservation around the world and building a culture of open access that invites more stakeholders to see, read, hear and explore their own historical materials. This short update will highlight the work we’ve done to launch this new program and offer insight into our strategies for navigating challenges such as copyright, privacy, and bureaucracy so that the program lives up to the aspiration of making more diverse voices and experiences openly accessible by digitally preserving cultural heritage materials.
https://www.library.ucla.edu/partnerships/modern-endangered-archives-program