Experts envision hybrid digital/physical future for storage and conservation
The inaugural Growing Spaces for Better Organizations seminar, hosted by EUN, bringing together a hundred top-level experts in document and heritage preservation and management, concluded its successful first edition with a unanimous conclusion: the future is not purely digital, but hybrid.
The symposium was divided into three panels—Museums, Libraries and Archives—where attendees, all professionals in their respective fields, heard first-hand accounts from industry leaders about tackling challenging situations, opening up discussion to thought-provoking exchanges.
Talks featuring museum experts José Luis Valverde (Head of Registry and Documentation, National Heritage), Nelly Giovanna Faustino (Cultural and Museum Project Manager, Ministry of Culture, Peru), and Ziortza San Pedro (Collections Technician, Basque Museum of Bilbao) led to wide-ranging conclusions: the need to cautiously open previously inaccessible areas to the public; digitization as a clear catalyst for change, crucial in ensuring artwork traceability and conservation; or how to expand collection capacity without increasing physical space.
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In the library sector, featuring talks by Jorge Eduardo Peña Zepeda (Director of Libraries and Information Centers, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Mexico), Maria Carmen Echeverria (Library Director, Universidad Pública de Navarra), and Carlos del Valle (Elkar - ACL), artificial intelligence in library management emerged as a major topic. The need for versatile physical spaces and the importance of creating communities were also emphasized.
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The archives sector proved proved to be one of the most complex areas addressed in the seminar. Insights were shared by Rafael Quintana Montesdeoca (Judicial Archivist of the Department of Justice, Government of the Canary Islands), Alexandre Porta Tallant (Head of the Documentary Management Division, Government of Girona) and Ramon Saball Balasch (Archive and Documentary Management Technician of the Department of Justice, Government of Catalonia).
Attendees discovered shared challenges and concerns such as the primary issue facing archives today: saturation in both physical and digital realms. They also questioned the new trends in the concept of 'zero paper' as a cornerstone of sustainability.
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In short, the integrated management of physical and digital assets emerged as the sector’s primary challenge. While the future remains uncertain, there’s a consensus on the need to progress in this direction.
“Despite our carefully planned agenda, we encouraged attendees to provoke spontaneity and make the seminar their own. This approach sparked unexpected discussions that we tackled together. We believe it’s crucial to continue posing new challenges in future editions”. Alberto Lorenzo, CEO of EUN
Attendees also visited key storage spaces including Gordailua, Filmoteca Vasca, Tabakalera Medialab, and Elkar.
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