Finders, Keepers—A Series of Online Conversations
A series of online presentations and conversations about the role of users in libraries and archives and the potential that use first releases.
At the present time, many innovative projects that address and mediate quite complex collections holdings in online catalogues are taking place around the world. Whether the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the platform of the Material-Archiv Schweiz, the photo collection of the Fondation Herzog, and many more. The two-day symposium Finders, Keepers, which was planned to take place on site in October, for once did not want to dedicate itself to projects on an institutional side, but instead to ask about the advantage that such innovations offer to users. How do employees make use of an internal company archive? What do researchers do in collections with fragile objects or books?
Due to the pandemic and the important protective measures connected with it, we had to decide against holding a standard in-person symposium in October. But how can we nevertheless hold a symposium at the present time? Virtual space is one option—but don’t we thus forfeit the true essence of a symposium: spontaneous and personal conversations? Instead of having all the participants sit in front of their computers for two days, we have decided to present the talks online in November, but to have each of them take place individually over lunchtime, always from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Beforehand, at the beginning of the week, we provide access to information and documents that make it possible to explore the topic of a presentation, an institution, or the presenters. If you would like to receive this information, we ask you to register with roland.frueh@sitterwerk.ch.
Links to the presentations, the documentation of them, and a summary of the conversations in English will be made accessible long-term by the Sitterwerk Journal.
We look forward to the exchange!
Please note that the program takes place exclusively online and in the German language.
Collecting, Making Accessible, Retrieving— Reports from public archives on the balance between preserving and activating
Wednesday, November 25, 12:30 to 1.30 p.m.: Rudolf Fischer and Marcelo Rezende, co-directors, Archiv der Avantgarden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden
Friday, November 27, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.: Cornel Dora, abbey librarian, Stiftsbibliothek, St.Gallen
Developing, Writing, Preserving—How private company archives make their collections useful for other design and production processes
Wednesday, December 2, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.: Viera Kucera, restorer and individual responsible for the company archive of the Kunstgiesserei St.Gallen
Thursday, December 3, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.: Martin Leuthold, former creative director of Jakob Schlaepfer AG, St. Gallen
The film Dann wollen wir der Musik mal Dampf machen. Zur Mechanisierung des Orchesters by Fred van der Kooij, filmmaker, Zurich, will be made accessible online at the end of the symposium.