Technology Blog

Archives conjure up images of rows of shelves with documents gathering dust. And this is precisely the problem a Sudan archiving project had when it wanted to digitalise the archives. In Lokichoggio in northern Kenya, just over the border from southern Sudan, Daniel Large remembers that dust was the main problem “Scanning old documents was difficult among the dust to the point where it clogged the scanner”, writes Isabelle Gross. Large is the project manager of the Sudan Open Archive Pilot Project – a scheme that aims to digitally preserve the documents left by various humanitarian organisations in Sudan and to make them accessible to the public via a website. As Large explains, back in 1989 UNICEF -Operation Lifeline Sudan was only meant to last for three months, but in reality humanitarian work went on for more than 15 years, involving more than a dozen of other NGOs working under UNICEF’s umbrella….In Daniel’s opinion, once preserved, these [documents] will help reveal such things as the history of constraints to aid operations, the evolution of the conflict and changing conditions in locations throughout Southern Sudan over these years. He adds that there is lots of documentation currently scattered across many locations in Kenya and Sudan. Some of these are in a vulnerable condition, including some documents produced after the peace agreement in 1972. The project began after a meeting in Amsterdam between UNICEF and the members of the Rift Valley Institute. The idea was to turn the documents left by UNICEF and other NGOs into usable resources for NGO field practitioners, and more generally, for the Sudanese people, giving them the opportunity to access contemporary and historical knowledge about their country. Large throws his spotlight on the general problem of archives in the humanitarian sector. In his view, just as information is fundamental to the effectiveness and impact of emergency response, knowledge of the history of aid and development operations is important to programme design, implementation and evaluation. Documents from the past can have a practical purpose in the present, but only if they can be readily accessed. The widespread “amnesia” resulting from emergency response and development is mostly a result of a lack of institutional memory and of high staff turnover….According to Daniel Large, the fact that the [Greenstone] software is open source and free will ensure cheap and easy archive accessibility among NGO practitioners and more generally between people in Sudan….Furthermore the concept behind the project is highly transferable. Unfortunately many countries around the world such as East Timor or Afghanistan have been in turmoil over the past few years. These events have resulted in a loss of documented history for the people and the NGO working there. Short- or long-term history suggests a choice of how anybody can write about the history of its own country. How, for instance, can one dispute the position of the frontier when one can only rely on human memory? Although human memories fade over 50 years, properly archived and accessible documentation could give a more concrete guide. In the meantime the experience of the many NGO that have been involved in aid work has made Sudan’s history more accessible to the world. Balancing Act will publishing the URL to the Sudan Open Archive Pilot Project as soon as it becomes available.