Introduction
Human rights defenders (HRDs) not only produce accurate and reliable information for
their immediate goals, such as proving rights violations. They also play a significant role in
the collective memory1: a plural process that actively illuminates and builds meaning on
impactful social events; by cultural products, it intends not to forget and not repeat parts of
our history. The activities of preservation or conservation of documents and archives are
essential to this end.
Preservation encompasses a set of procedures aiming to ensure that information is
reusable over time, that is to say, that our documents remain accessible and trustworthy,
even with value as evidence, over the years.
This guide is intended to help HR organisations to identify preservation needs for different
scenarios and provide them with appropriate tools for each case. The document first
identifies the main preservation risks. Then, it provides different examples of preservation
goals linked to short, medium and long-term scenarios, to end with an explanation of
various actions you can put in practice to guarantee the usability of your digital and
physical documents.
Preservation risks
Digital documents
Hacking, obsolescence of formats and software, technology incompatibilities, storage
media damage, optical disc degradation, theft, confiscation, etc.
Physical documents
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Elizabeth Jelin, a specialized researcher in human rights and the memoirs of political repression, asserts: “Es la agencia
humana la que activa el pasado, corporeizado en los contenidos culturales (discursos en un sentido amplio). La memoria,
entonces, se produce en tanto hay sujetos que comparten una cultura, en tanto hay agentes sociales que intentan
«materializar» estos sentidos del pasado en diversos productos culturales que son concebidos como, o que se convierten en,
vehículos de la memoria, tales como libros, museos, monumentos, películas o libros de historia. También se manifiesta en
actuaciones y expresiones que, antes que re-presentar el pasado, loincorporan performativamente (Van Alphen, 1997)”.
Elizabeth Jelin. ¿DE QUÉ HABLAMOS CUANDO HABLAMOS DE MEMORIAS?. En de Los trabajos de la memoria, Siglo Veintiuno
editores, España 2001. Cap. 2.Disponible en publicación digital: https://laasociacion.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/memoria-jelc3adn-1.pdf
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