ICA/SAFT Webinar – Endangered Archives: Practical Preservation Strategies for Faith-Based and Community Archives

Endangered Minority Archives in Wartime Ukraine: Digitisation and Preservation in Practice by Tatiana Vagramenko (Barcelona Supercomputing Center, University College Cork)

This presentation draws on field experience working with endangered archives in wartime Ukraine, within the framework of the British Library Endangered Archives Programme and the UCLA Modern Endangered Archives Program. It explores the practical challenges of documenting, digitising, and preserving vulnerable community-held collections under conditions of conflict, displacement, and institutional disruption.

Focusing on real project cases, the presentation highlights strategies for emergency digitisation, field-based workflows, and collaboration with local custodians who often operate without formal archival training or infrastructure. Particular attention is given to ethical considerations, risk management, and the development of sustainable practices that balance rapid response with long-term accessibility.

The aim is to discuss practical strategies for responding to the challenges of preserving endangered documentary heritage in high-risk environments.

From Documentary Survey to Digital Preservation: Practical Experience at the Jewish Archive by Judith Riquelme (Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana, Archivo Judío de Chile)

This presentation offers an applied overview of the key stages involved in working with documentary collections from minority communities, drawing on the experience of the Jewish Archive. It outlines practical processes, tools, and methodologies for the initial documentation and registration of materials, including field surveys, inventory preparation, and the creation of consistent and accessible descriptions.

The presentation also addresses the conditions required for preparing digitisation workflows, taking into account technical and material constraints. It further discusses key decisions related to equipment selection, file formats, data organisation, and long-term accessibility, alongside the logistical and ethical considerations inherent in working with community-held archives. The emphasis is on sharing replicable and sustainable practices that support communities in safeguarding, managing, and activating their documentary heritage.

Emilie Gagnet Leumas, PhD, is a certified archivist, certified records manager, and Fellow of the Society of American Archivists with more than 25 years of experience in archives and records management. She teaches at Louisiana State University and leads a consulting firm specializing in archival stewardship, records management, and cultural heritage preservation. Dr. Leumas previously served as director of the Office of Archives and Records for the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

She has held leadership roles in national and international archival organizations, including chairing the International Council on Archives’ Section on Archives of Faith Traditions. Her commitment to justice and historical accountability is reflected in her community work, including her role as co-founder of Catholic Religious Organizations Researching Slavery (CROSS).

A sought-after speaker and educator, Dr. Leumas has presented at conferences and facilitated workshops across local, national, and international platforms. Her expertise spans cultural heritage protection, archival best practices, records management, disaster recovery, and research on enslavement in Catholic institutions.

Her publications include Emergency Management and Disaster Preparedness: A Manual for Protecting Archives (2024, with Margaret Crockett); Speaking French in Louisiana, 1720–1955 (2018, with Dubois and Richardson); Managing Diocesan Archives and Records (2012, with Treanor and Newcomer); and Roots of Faith: History of the Diocese of Baton Rouge (2009, with Renee Richard). Her forthcoming book, Martha Tolton and Her Son Augustus: A Black Catholic Family’s Experience of Slavery and Freedom, will be published by The Catholic University of America Press in August 2026.

Tatiana Vagramenko is a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at University College Cork and a Research Fellow at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. Trained in anthropology and religious studies, her work approaches archives as both historical sources and social fields, combining ethnographic sensitivity with digital humanities methods. She specialises in declassified secret police records from Eastern Europe and endangered archives in wartime Ukraine.

Her research brings together comparative historical analysis and computational approaches to Cold War–era security service archives, contributing to the development of AI-ready archival infrastructures and practical methods for digitisation and research in politically unstable, war-affected settings. She has led projects funded by the Endangered Archives Programme (British Library) and the UCLA Modern Endangered Archives Program.

She is co-author of The Lives of Soviet Secret Agents: Religion and Police Surveillance in the USSR (Lexington Books, 2025) and Hidden Galleries: Material Religion in the Secret Police Archives in Central and Eastern Europe (Lit Verlag, 2020), and author of the forthcoming Indigenous Christianity: Missionary, Modernity and Marginality in the Nenets Tundra (Central European University Press, 2026).

Judith Riquelme is an archivist and cultural manager with extensive experience in documentary heritage in Chile. She serves as Executive Director of the Jewish Archive of Chile and teaches at the Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana. She is a member of ALA’s Community Archives group.

She holds a diploma in Education and Human Rights, a Master’s degree in Information Management, and is currently a doctoral candidate in Documentation at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

Her work brings together a critical and ethical perspective on archives, with a particular focus on memory, gender, and communities.

Jody Butterworth is Lead Curator for the Endangered Archives Programme (EAP), which supports the digitisation of at-risk archives worldwide, safeguarding them from destruction, neglect, or deterioration and ensuring broad public access. In her role, Jody works closely with project teams to help them adhere to British Library digitisation standards.

During her time at EAP, she co-authored Remote Capture: Digitising Cultural Heritage in Challenging Locations (https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0138) and most recently, contributed to the article Reflections on Two Decades of the Endangered Archives Programme (https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111386713-003). Before joining EAP in late 2012, she held positions at the British Library in both the Collection Care and Asia and Africa Studies departments. Her early career in heritage included positions at the National Trust, the Ashmolean Museum and the Royal Collection.

Rachel Deblinger is the Director of the Modern Endangered Archives Program (MEAP) at the UCLA Library, a granting program that funds the digitization and preservation of at-risk cultural heritage materials from around the world. Deblinger completed her doctorate in History at UCLA in 2014 and is the author of Saving Our Survivors: How American Jews learned about the Holocaust (Indiana University Press, May 2025). She is also a member of the UCLA Holocaust Research Lab and a contributor to the new book, Ethics of the Algorithm: Digital Humanities and Holocaust Memory.