This Talk will take place in English exclusively on Zoom. Registration is not required to attend.

Abstract:

Audiovisual archives are facing an unprecedented scale of image production, circulation, and transformation. While many of the associated challenges have precedents in analogue practices, the digital environment intensifies key issues such as selection, provenance, context, and long-term sustainability.

Images are no longer stable objects tied to clearly defined frameworks. They are produced in massive quantities, circulate across platform-driven environments, and are increasingly shaped by algorithmic and AI-assisted processes. This raises fundamental questions about authorship, meaning, and the possibility of maintaining archival context over time.

At the same time, established standards and best practices are often difficult to apply consistently under conditions of limited resources, technological instability, and institutional constraints. Rather than assuming that more technology leads to better outcomes, this session examines the tension between ideal models of archival practice and what is realistically achievable in everyday workflows.

Bringing together three professional perspectives, the discussion explores how institutions make decisions about selection, formats, and processing strategies in contexts of abundance and uncertainty. Attention is given to the idea of “good enough” archival practice - understood not as a compromise in quality, but as a strategic, context-driven approach to managing complexity, scale, and responsibility in the digital age.

Speakers / Moderators:

• Moderator: Katherine Rewinkel El-Darwish - European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
• Natālija Lāce – Latvian State Archive 
• Stephen J. Fletcher – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Juan Alonso Fernández – Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU) 

Natālija Lāce
Natālija Lāce is an archive expert at the Latvian State Archive of Audiovisual Documents, specializing in the description, management, and digital development of audiovisual collections. She actively contributes to strategies for integrating AI tools into archival workflows, aiming to modernize practices and enhance accessibility. Her work includes compiling fonds histories, maintaining internal databases, and developing more efficient archival systems. She holds a Master’s degree in History from the University of Latvia and is the Chair of the International Council on Archives' (ICA) Expert Group on Photographic and Audiovisual Archives.

Stephen J. Fletcher
Stephen J. Fletcher is the North Carolina Collection Photographic Archivist in Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining UNC in 2003, he held curatorial positions at the California Historical Society and the Indiana Historical Society. He also served as a consultant to the Sierra Club. Fletcher received a BFA in Photographic Illustration from RIT and an MA from John F. Kennedy University. He has twice chaired the Society of American Archivists' Visual Materials Section and is a member of the Steering Committee for the ICA Expert Group on Photographic and Audiovisual Archives. His current archival motto regarding born-digital photographs is: “Be more like George Washington than Paul Revere”.

Juan Alonso Fernández
Juan Alonso Fernández has been an audiovisual archivist at the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU) since 2016. He holds a degree in History and Documentation from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a postgraduate qualification in Management and Preservation of Photographic Archives from ESAGED. With over 17 years of experience, he has served as a technician and consultant for various public and private institutions. He is the Co-Chair of the ICA Expert Group on Photographic and Audiovisual Archives.

The Zentralbibliothek Zurich, the CERN Scientific Information Service, and AILIS (Association of International Librarians and Information Specialists, Geneva) jointly organize the Library Science Talks. A programme of talks for 2025 can be found on the AILIS website.