Learn about the Born-Digital Collections Archives and Memory Conference
After a year of hard work and preparations, the awaited Born-Digital Collections, Archives and Memory Conference (BDCAM) took place between the 2nd and 4th of April 2025, at Senate House, London. The conference was co-organised by EMKP, The School of Advanced Study at the University of London, The British Library, and Aarhus University; and Sponsored by the EMKP, the University of London, and the Digital Preservation Coalition.
With more than 300 delegates, the three-day event brought together academics, students, practitioners, and digital preservation professionals from across the world (both in person and online) to explore how the born-digital transforms what and how we research in the humanities.
The conference opened with an inspiring keynote lecture by Dorothy Berry, the Digital Curator for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Key themes throughout the conference were the use and role of AI in digital collections, archives, and preservation, discussions on personal digital heritage and online platforms, various approaches to the preservation of art, games, and literature, and cultural heritage and languages amidst precarious situations and contexts across the world.
Key discussions throughout the conference included:
- A roundtable on “Taking a global perspective: Who can actually discover and access born-digital collections”, featuring Anasuya Sengupta, Serge Sagna, Nick Thieberger, Valentina Vapnarsky, and Mandana Seyfeddinipur (Director of the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme).
- A plenary roundtable on “Environmentally sustainable infrastructure for computationally intensive work in digital cultural heritage”, featuring Jane Winters, Giovanni Colavizza, Andy Jackson, Leontien Talboom, Giulia Osti and James Baker.
- Closing Reflections and future directions for Born-Digital Collections, Archives and Memory, featuring Susan Aasman (University of Groningen), JuEunhae Knox (University of Sheffield), and Rosario Rogel Salazar (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México).
The conference also featured a presentation by Head of EMKP, Paula Granados Garcia on “Critical approaches to digitally preserving living community knowledge, a case study from the Endangered Material Knowledge Programme”, which drew on many examples of EMKP projects, completed and ongoing.
A huge thank you to all the colleagues and volunteers who helped to organise and facilitate the conference, and in particular, Naomi Wells (School of Advanced Study), Michael Donnay (School of Advanced Study), Anna-Maria Sichani (School of Advanced Study), Gabby Bodard (School of Advanced Study), Beatrice Cannelli (School of Advanced Study), Paula Granados Garcia (Endangered Material Knowledge Programme), Helle Strandgaard Jensen (Aarhus University), and Stella Wisdom (British Library).
We hope this conference will set the path for future collaborations and partnerships among colleagues working with born-digital collections, heritage, and memory, and hopefully we will see a future iteration of the event in the not-too-far future.
Images: Alex Rumford & The School of Advanced Study.
