GENEVA / ARCHIVES PLATFORM

STORY: GENEVA / ARCHIVES PLATFORM
TRT: 4:28
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 28 JANUARY 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:

28 JANUARY 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations exterior
2. Wide shot, press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Blandine Blukacz-Louisfert, Chief, Institutional Memory Section, UN Geneva:
“In 2017, when we started this digital access to the League of Nations Archives project, we had 15 million pages of paper. Most of it 100 years old, very fragile and heterogeneous. We had these 15 million pages in front of us to turn into digital files and in the end, at the end of the project - this year will be the end of the project - we will have 250 Terabytes of data.”
4. Wide shot, press room with speakers at the podium
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General, United Nations Office at Geneva:
“As a result of this project, we have unlimited access online to the institutional memory of League of Nations. That, I would say, is a milestone.”
6. Med shot, journalist
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General, United Nations Office at Geneva:
“We sometimes do not know how important these archives are for our current work. Because quite often we think about the League of Nations, about history. But quite often, in order to find answers and solutions to current challenges, it’s really important to learn lessons from the past. That’s why this institutional memory is so very important.”
8. Slide, presentation by Blandine Blukacz-Louisfert showing 15 million pages turned into 250TB
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Francesco Pisano, Director, Library & Archives, UN Geneva:
“This is a massive project: for the substance in terms of archiving, digitalizing all the archives. This is one of the biggest that was ever attempted in the world. It’s massive for the UN.”
10. Close up, archives documents
11. Close up, archive photographs
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Francesco Pisano, Director, Library & Archives, UN Geneva:
“When we started, we didn't know what the technology could be applied to the preservation of the digital material. So, it's a little bit like inventing something at the time of the floppy disk and asking yourself, how do I make this readable in 50 years? And you know it's not the floppy, but you don't know the cloud because it hasn't been invented yet.”
12. Close up, archive letter dated 1920
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Blandine Blukacz-Louisfert, Chief, Institutional Memory Section, UN Geneva:
“Before, as Francesco mentioned, people had to come in person. We had about 150 persons coming and consulting the archives per year. Now, we launched the platform in December (2021), and since December, we know that more than 1,200 people, different people, different individuals visited the platform. So, it's really a huge difference. We got some feedback from users, and they really insist on the democratization of access to these archives that it represents.”
14. Close up, archive showing drawings
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General, United Nations Office at Geneva:
“For us, it is just the beginning of the project. And apart from all these, I would say practical things we are presenting. Of course, we are presenting you an idea of Geneva as a centre of history of multilateralism and a centre of knowledge.”

FILE – 2019, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

16. Wide shot, library and archives employees at work at UN Geneva
17. Close up, employee working with archive documents
18. Close up, employee working with archive documents
19. Med shot, library archives employees at work
20. Wide shot, library archives employees at work
21. Med shot, employee scanning documents
22. Close up, employee scanning documents
23. Med shot, employee scanning documents
24. Close up, old passports
25. Med shot, employee working on scanned documents
26. Med shot, employee working on scanned documents
27. Wide shot, employees working on scanned documents
28. Various shots, library and archives offices at UN Geneva

STORYLINE:

A new era has dawned for researchers of international diplomacy wanting to mine the archives of the United Nations predecessor, the League of Nations. Ten linear kilometres of paper documents have been digitalized, providing unlimited access online to the institutional memory of the League of Nations.

At a press briefing held this morning, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva and the Library and Archives of UN Geneva presented the new platform as a breakthrough for the knowledge on the history of multilateralism.

“We sometimes do not know how important these archives are for our current work. Because quite often we think about the League of Nations, about history. But quite often, in order to find answers and solutions to current challenges, it’s really important to learn lessons from the past. That’s why this institutional memory is so very important,” said Director General Tatiana Valovaya.

The platform democratizes access to the exceptional wealth of archival documents managed by the UN Library & Archives Geneva, including early international peace movements, the League of Nations, the United Nations Office at Geneva and other UN entities. It gives unrestricted access to people worldwide, emphasized Francesco Pisano, Director of the UN Library & Archives in Geneva --not only to diplomats, academics, journalists, but also students sitting in any country with internet access.

“This is a massive project: for the substance in terms of archiving, digitalizing all the archives. This is one of the biggest that was ever attempted in the world. It’s massive for the UN,” Pisano said

In years past, some 150 persons per year were coming in person to consult the archives at the UN Office at Geneva. According to Blandine Blukacz-Louisfert, Chief, Institutional Memory Section, UN Geneva, since the launch of the platform last December, “more than 1,200 people, different people, different individuals visited the platform. So, it's really a huge difference. We got some feedback from users, and they really insist on the democratization of access to these archives that it represents.”

The platform represents an outstanding opportunity for researchers all over the world to develop new perspectives and new methodologies. It will contribute to a better understanding of multilateralism, according to the UN Geneva officials. It allows the public to interact with UN Geneva archivists and get their assistance to navigate through the collections. It also highlights new services and research partnerships, which can contribute to the renewal of studies on the history of multilateralism.

By the end of 2022, the entirety of the archives will be freely available online. The platform also includes visual material, such as the Photo Collection of the League of Nations. Those archives are registered on the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register and document the activities of the predecessor institution to the UN, from 1919 to 1946.

Preserving and fostering access to primary sources is at the core of the UN Library and Archives Geneva’s mission. Its new platform can contribute to better understand the world.

“This is just the beginning of the project,” concluded Ms. Valovaya. “We are presenting you an idea of Geneva as a centre of history of multilateralism and a centre of knowledge.”