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" DIGITALIZATION AND PRESERVATION OF THE RDC'S ARCHIVES"
Problem The Research and Documentation Center possesses a large archive carefully collected during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina which is growing every day through the constant activities of the Center. The records collected and kept since the beginning of the conflict in 1992, currently are not stored in the appropriate space and manner to prevent them from disintegration. In order to save these valuable materials the entire archive requires proper organization and digitalization. Since one part of the archive contains video recordings, and this type of the data storage is the most vulnerable portion of the archive, it is necessary to start with this project as soon as possible. Without digitalization, the RDC's video archive will not only be inaccessible for research, but also in danger of disintegrating. The main purpose of this project is the preservation of our video archive which will enable us to make it accessible to future researchers, filmmakers, and journalists around the world.
The archives include statements of victims, testimonies of eye-witnesses, video records of destroyed objects, and many records of atrocities and human rights violations during over three and a half years of conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
This project will digitalize a portion of the video archives of the Research and Documentation Center (RDC), Sarajevo , and represents approximately 10 percent of the institution's entire preservation effort which will be realized over the coming two years.
The Research and Documentation Center (RDC)
The Research and Documentation Center (RDC) was formed on April 19, 2004 , as an attempt to continue the decade-long tradition of the War Crimes Commission established by the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on April 28, 1992 . RDC is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental and non-partisan institution. Our main task is to investigate and gather facts, documents, and data on genocide, war crimes and human rights violations, regardless of the ethnic or social background of the victims.
The RDC's database is the backbone of the entire organization and is one of the largest of its type in the world, according to the Patrick Ball - a leading expert in applying scientific measurement to human rights violations. The RDC's largest project currently, Population Losses 1992 -1995, seeks to create a record of each death which occurred during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Currently the project staff is collecting data in the field for the outreach portion of this project. The RDC's database contains 300,000 names of individuals who were in some ways victims of the war, including 90,000 records of killed or missing persons.+
The Research and Documentation Center's Archives
As the successor organization to the State War Crimes Commission, the RDC has inherited the largest archive of materials relating to wartime atrocities and human rights violations. The RDC's archive contains millions of pages of written documentation, audio and video materials, testimonies of surviving victims and eyewitnesses to crimes. The archive contains over 100,000 photos and 3500 hours of video recordings.
Our archive is an enormous contribution to the social history of the Balkan wars of the 1990s, to the prosecutions at ICTY and in domestic courts, and to the memory of the victims. Our entire archive is available to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Bosnian prosecutors and courts, governmental and non-governmental organizations, research institutions, and the media.
Currently, of the RDC's written archive (i.e. witness statements, official documents, reports and newspapers), 70 percent has been analyzed, classified and catalogued in our database; 30 percent of the entire written archive has not been processed at all. The entire written archive requires digitalization. In addition, 100 percent of the audio and video archive needs to be analyzed, classified and digitized. Currently, only short descriptions of the contents of the video archive exist.
Goals
The project's main goal is the preservation of the material. The digitalization of the entire archive will enable us to manage information and data in a more effective and efficient manner, and at the same time, process and analyze data base content. On the other hand, video records need to become integrated part of our data base.
Focus of this Project: Digitalization of the Video Archive
The digitalization of the RDC's video archive will entail three phases:
- Analysis - RDC staff will analyze the contents of over 275 video recordings
- Classification - Working with the Center's existing database infrastructure, all video archives will be integrated into the RDC's database, based on their content. The database ties different sources of information written, audio and video to specific victims and specific wartime events or violations.
- Digitalization - This phase will entail the transfer of video recordings from BETA, VHS and Hi 8 to a digital format which will ensure their permanent preservation and protection.
Work Plan and Methodology
The project team consists of a program analyst, a digital conversion expert and two assistants who will work on DVD and MPEG-2 production.
A multiple source VCRs will transfer wide range of our original tape formats (VHS, BETACAM, HI8 etc.) to the digital beta cam equipment that re-master the tapes through the process of capturing SDI output from computer using the highest quality video conversion card (256MB/256bit) and special software program. After creating video file on computer it will be stored on hard disk (SCSI) and through software compression converted to MPEG-2 file (DVD). Later it will be recorded and stored on DVDs.
Based on our experience, related to image quality and file size, we believe that the quality of final digitalized output will be high.
Project Impact / Future Significance of Project
The Video Archive Preservation Project is one small part of the RDC's Preservation and Digitalization effort. This entire project is expected to last over two years after which several million pages of material will be available to interested researchers. The RDC is permanent research institution in Bosnia-Herzegovina and will be expected to expand as more documentation become available, such as the archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). In addition, the RDC's ongoing projects in several fields, such as oral history and trial monitoring, will continue to be added to the institution's archives.
The RDC's archives will also be available for short term ad hoc projects, such as the planned Truth Commission. There is an ongoing initiative for the Truth Commission establishment in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and since there is no available relevant data on the past wartime events, RDC's archive is a valuable source of the information. To date our records are available and used by the ICTY, domestic courts and Prosecutor's office, but the archive, because of its current form, is still unused to its full potential. The digitalization of the video records could help in the process of establishing the truth in this region as well as to facilitate the Truth Commission's work and enhance accessibility of available data. The Truth Commission will work on establishing the facts about the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina during wartime and help the process of integration and reconciliation in this area. It is important to the Commission to have all the information which will help in its work. Currently, we are the only organization that has relevant information stored in our data base, and can help establishing and work of the Truth Commission. Establishing of the truth will help in understanding of the problems in the region and prevention of any future conflicts.
This archive will enable young students and researchers to find relevant data that will help them in exploration of the conflict areas, conflict prevention, and peace building processes. It will serve as the empirical basis for the research and creation of accurate history.
Content of the archive can help in understanding of happenings in Bosnia-Herzegovina and therefore as a future reference to similar situations in other countries. It will contribute to the developing processes of democratization, transitional justice, and lustration. All documentation kept in RDC's archive helps in clarifying past events and overcoming problems in present society.
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