The International Council on Archives (ICA) is pleased to invite all members and the wider archival community to two exciting Lightning Talks sessions dedicated to advancing access to archives through innovation and technology as part of International Archives Week 2025.
On 9 June, the morning session “Overcoming Barriers to Archive Access” (11:00 – 12:00 CET), will feature projects that tackle challenges such as archival management in diverse contexts, the realities of exclusively online museums, and pioneering digital family archives.
In the afternoon, from 14:30 to 15:30 CET, “Harnessing Technology to Enhance Access” the session will showcase practical, technology-driven approaches including AI-powered transcription, accessibility improvements on digital platforms, and ethical circulation of images in archives.
Both sessions take place on Zoom and follow the engaging Lightning Talks format: short, dynamic presentations of 10 minutes each, with 5 minutes devoted to the talk and 5 minutes to audience Q&A and interaction.
More information on the presentations and details on how to register can be found below.
KEY INFORMATION
- Date and time: Monday 9 June 2025, 11:00–12:00 CET (Paris time) and 14:30–15:30 CET (Paris time).
- Location: Online
- Language: English (automated translation of subtitles will be available).
These lightning talks are free and open for anyone to join. Registration is required to receive full details on how to connect to these virtual meetings.
Sessions details
Overcoming Barriers to Archive Access — 11:00 – 12:00 CET
Presentation 1
Helping archives in India improve ‘access’ through a Benchmarking Tool
Speakers: Jaya Ravindran (she/her), Shreyasi Pathak (they/he), Milli Archives Foundation
This presentation shares the pioneering development of a self-assessment Benchmarking Tool designed to improve archival management and accessibility in India, where archives vary widely in custodianship, scale, and condition. The tool aims to raise awareness of access parameters and promote inclusive practices across public and private institutions.
Presentation 2
What it means to be exclusively online
Speakers: Mac Gill & Yuka Yokoyama, Digital Museum of the History of Japanese in New York (DMHJNY)
As a fully online museum, DMHJNY explores the opportunities and challenges of delivering accessible digital exhibits without a physical space. This talk discusses their focus on user engagement, bilingual content, adherence to WCAG 2.1 standards, and ongoing outreach hurdles faced by limited staffing.
Presentation 3
Digital pages: Make files accessible
Speakers: Zhu Minglong & Jun Sun
This case study presents the innovative ‘digital home archives’ in Kunshan, China — a mobile app-based platform offering intelligent, user-friendly access to personal and family archives. The project emphasises digital service integration with smart home technology, enhancing social service outreach and interaction through genealogy archives.
Presentation 4
Open GLAM: Opening Archives and the Work Behind Their Opening Through the Wikimedia Movement
Speakers: Laura Mariana Casareto, teacher, director of the Historical Archive of the UNLP and Angie Cervellera, Wikimedia Argentina
This talk will present the OpenGLAM Tuesdays Series, an initiative launched in 2024 by the Archives Network and Wikimedians of the National University of La Plata to strengthen ties between GLAM institutions, the university, and the Wikimedia Movement. Through sessions that highlight Wikimedia projects and address specific archival, library, or museum practices—from digitization to conservation—the series fosters openness and professional development. The presentation will explore how this innovative space supports collaboration and visibility around the principles of OpenGLAM, particularly from a Global South perspective.
Presentation 5
Archives and Accessibility in the Age of All-Digital
Speaker: Irène VEGLO, Documentation Engineer, Head of the Documentation and Archives Department/ Project Manager and technical referent for digitisation at the Benin National Land Transport Agency
In the digital age, ensuring true access to archives requires more than just digitisation—it demands inclusive, secure, and well-organised systems. While technology offers faster and broader access, disparities in infrastructure and skills, especially between urban and rural areas, persist. Protecting sensitive data and creating user-friendly platforms are essential. This talk calls on information professionals to rethink archival practices to build open, accessible, and secure digital environments that uphold everyone’s right to information.
Harnessing Technology to Enhance Access — 14:30 – 15:30 CET
Presentation 1
Enhancing digital accessibility: A Practical Approach to Inclusive Archives
Speakers: Jen Febles, Digital Archives Manager, HSBC
A practical case study on enhancing the HSBC History website’s accessibility with tools such as transcripts for silent videos, captioning via Microsoft Stream, descriptive alt text for images, and screen reader testing. The project demonstrates how thoughtful, low-cost interventions and partnerships can make digital archives more inclusive and compliant with WCAG 2.1.
Presentation 2
From Anonymous to Accessible: Incorporating AI into Undergraduate Archival Research
Speakers: Carol Street & Genesis Pena-Lozada
This presentation recounts the transcription and translation of an 18th-century Franciscan friar’s diary using Caracal open-source software as part of an undergraduate research project. It highlights how AI tools can transform fragile archival materials into fully accessible texts and uncover historical details.
Presentation 3
Technology and Archives: Accessibility, Standards, and Fairness in the Circulation of Images
Speakers: Samuel Salgado Tello, Director, National Centre for Photographic Heritage, Diego Portales University (Cenfoto-UDP)
This talk focuses on combining technological infrastructure with cultural mediation to ensure equitable access and circulation of photographic archives, especially from historically marginalised communities. Upcoming projects include the establishment of a Digital Humanities Laboratory to apply international standards and sustainable digital preservation models.
Presentation 4
Massive Access, Imperfect Data: Rethinking Archival Value in the Age of AI
Speakers: Christopher Kermorvant, TEKLIA (France), Lionel Kesztenbaum, INED (France) and Manonmani Restif, SIAF (France)
This talk will present the SocFace project, which uses AI to transcribe France’s handwritten census records from 1836 to 1936, making data on 300 million individuals openly accessible. By drastically reducing the cost and time of manual transcription, SocFace enables new research and public uses of this vast historical resource. However, the talk will also explore the challenges posed by AI-generated errors and their uneven distribution, raising critical questions about how archives should present and allow users to search imperfect yet valuable data.
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