After conducting in-depth research into the digital humanities projects, Project Syria and Manar al-Athar, there are three main conclusions that I have made about their potential role as preservation tools during times of conflict. Each is listed below:
1. Virtual reality-based digital humanities projects may be able to move beyond just the preservation of memory and the documentation of cultural heritage loss into becoming empathy-generating machines. This was a major theme mentioned several times throughout the literature by the creators, the media coverage, and the reviewers of Project Syria.
2. Digital Humanities projects, while still focused on preservation and
documentation during times of conflict, also have a more activist approach and purpose to the designs of their project than more traditional archives. Both Manar al-Athar and Project Syria both were upfront about the activist agenda their archives were advocating for. Project Syria wanted to document the experience of the Syrian population and share it with the world. Manar al-Athar wants to provide an open-access photo archive that can be used to document and understand the rampant destruction of cultural heritage sites currently occurring in Syria.
3. Digital Humanities Projects are synthesizers of information, not just collectors of information. This was especially true in the Project Syria case. Several records and documents were collected, consulted, and utilized to create the VR experience. However, the end project was a synthesis of these sources,
rather than just a database or a collection where these sources are stored for people to find and make their own conclusions.
So, what is the overall potential role of digital humanities projects in preservation during times of conflict? I believe that their role is not only to document, collect, or preserve what currently exists, as has so often been the traditional approach to preservation in times of conflict. It is, in fact, to gather the information, synthesize it, and disseminate it to others in new and innovative formats that no longer just inform, but immerse.
This study did have some limitations in the research collected. Roadblocks in collecting information about the Manar al-Athar project prevented me from being able to include information about the media’s response to the project, as well as users’ opinions on the project as well.
Further research that can be done on this topic is vast, as it is still a relatively new field, with very few studies conducted comparing digital humanities projects to archives. A logical next step would be to interview creators of digital humanities projects, such as
Project Syria and Manar al-Athar, about what role they believe their projects play in archiving information, and how they see the field of digital humanities evolving as a whole. There is so much potential to learn about the intersection between digital
humanities projects and archives, and I believe that this is an extremely important topic for other researchers to continue to study in depth. Much can still be learned about this field and its future impact on the archival profession.
References:
(n.d.). About the Museum’s Collections: Oral History. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from https://www.ushmm.org/collections/the- museums-collections/about/oral-history.
(n.d). Bosnia and Herzegovinian Memories. Oral History in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from http://www.bosnianmemories.org/.
(n.d). Steam Reviews: Project Syria. Steam. Retrieved from
https://steamcommunity.com/app/491790/reviews/?browsefilter=toprated&snr=1_ 5_reviews_ .
(2013). Project Syria. Emblematic Group. Retrieved from http://emblematicgroup.com/experiences/project-syria/
(2015). Here are the ancient sites ISIS has damaged and destroyed. National Geographic. Retrieved from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150901-isis-
destruction-looting-ancient-sites-iraq-syria-archaeology/
Akhtar, S., Akoglu, G. Simon, S., Rushmeier, H. (2017). Project Anqa: Digitizing and Documents Cultural Heritage in the Middle East. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, (XLII- 2)W5.
Allard, D. & Ferris, S. (2015). Antiviolence and Marginalized Communities: Knowledge Creation, Community Mobilization, and Social Justice through a Participatory Archiving Approach. Library Trends, 64(2), 360-383.
Almukhtar, S. (2016). The strategy behind the Islamic State’s destruction of ancient sites. NYTimes. Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/29/world/middleeast/isis-historic- sites-control.html
Bilefsky, D. (2017). ISIS destroys part of Roman theater in Palmyra, Syria. NYTimes. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/world/middleeast/palmyra- syria-isis-amphitheater.html
Casaly, P. (2016). Al Mahdi before the ICC: Cultural property and world heritage in international criminal law. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 14, 1199- 1220.
Caswell, M. (2014). Toward a survivor-centered approach to records documenting human rights abuse: lessons from community archives. Archival Science, 14, 307-322. Clement, T., Hagenmaier, W., Knies, J.L. (2013). Toward a Notion of the Archive of the
Future: Impressions of Practice by Librarians, Archivists, and Digital Humanities Scholars, Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 83(2), 112-130. Danti, M. (2015). Ground-Based Observations of Cultural Heritage Incidents in
Syria and Iraq. Near Eastern Archaeology, 78(3), 132-141.
De la Peña, N. (2015). The future of news? Virtual reality. TedTalks, Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/nonny_de_la_pena_the_future_of_news_virtual_realit y/discussion
Garling, C. Virtual Reality, Empathy and the Next Journalism. Wired. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2015/11/nonny-de-la-pena-virtual-reality- empathy-and-the-next-journalism/
Greene, J. (2015). Protecting our Shared Heritage in Syria, Lightning Round. [Powerpoint Slides]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0C7VdoDf4Y.
Fagotto, M. (2017, February 23). The Monk Who Saves Manuscripts From ISIS. The Atlantic. Retrieved from
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/02/the-monk-who-saves- manuscripts-from-isis/517611/
Harkin, J. (2016, March). The Race to Save Syria’s Archaeological Treasures. The Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/race-save-syrias-archaeological- treasures-180958097/
Kaye, D. (2014). Archiving justice: Conceptualizing the archives of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Archival Science, 14(3), 381-396.
Knoepp, L. (2017). Forget Oculus Rift, Meet the godmother of VR. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/lillyknoepp/2017/04/13/forget-oculus-rift- meet-the-godmother-of-vr/#5190592e6b48.
Madden, K. & Seifi, L. (2011). Digital surrogate preservations of manuscripts and Iranian heritage: enhancing research. New Library World, 112(9/10), 452-466.
Makin, S. (2017). Can virtual reality bring world peace? Haaretz. Retrieved from
https://www.haaretz.com/life/MAGAZINE-can-virtual-reality-bring-world-peace- 1.5486219 .
Malmo, C. (2014). A New Virtual Reality Tool Brings the Daily Trauma of the Syrian War to Life. Vice: Motherboard. Retrieved from
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/jp5jx3/virtual-reality-is-bringing-the- syrian-war-to-life
McKenzie, J., Macaulay-Lewis, E., Green, J.A. Manar Al-Athar. Retrieved from http://www.heritageunderthreat.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Manar_al- Athar_DC_Summary_30Nov2015.pdf
Meron, T. (2005). The Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict within the Case-law of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Museum International, 57(4). Retrieved from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0033.2005.00540.x/abstract Miller, N. (2016, September 4). Protecting Antiquities in Syria and Libya from Islamic
State.The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from
http://www.smh.com.au/world/antiquities-syria-libya-seo-here-20160901- gr6mfh.html
Moustafa, Laila Hussein. (2016). Cultural Heritage and Preservation: Lessons from World War II and the Contemporary Conlfict in the Middle East. The American Archivist, 79(2), 320-338.
Parkin, S. (2014). Will virtual reality reshape documentary journalism? MIT Technology Review. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/527931/will- virtual-reality-reshape-documentary-journalism/.
Quinio, E. (2016). Virtual reality: The new age of images. France-Amerique. Retrieved from https://france-amerique.com/virtual-reality-the-new-age-of-images/.
Radeljic, B. (2015). Complete and incomplete archives: An analysis of archival materials documenting European community-Yugoslav relations. The Historian, 77(1), 80- 99.
Riedlmayer, A. (2007). Crimes of War, Crimes of Peace: Destruction of Libraries during and after the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. Library Trends, 56(1), 107–132.
Schiavenza, M. (2015, August 19). Why ISIS Killed an Antiquities Scholar. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/08/isis- killed-antiquities-scholar/401798/
Stubbings, H. (1993). Blitzkrieg and books: British and European libraries as casualties of World War II. Bloomington, Ind.: Rubena Press.
Supple, S. (2005). Memory Slain: Recovering Cultural Heritage in Post-War Bosnia. InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies, 1(2). Retrieved from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/28c783b6
Swain, E.D. (2003). Oral History in the Archives: Its Documentary Role in the Twenty- first Century. The American Archivist, 66, 139-158.
United Nations (1954). Convention on the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict with regulations for the execution of the convention. The Hague, Ne. Retrieved from http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php
URL_ID=13637&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Van der Hoeven, H. & van Albada, J. (1996). Memory of the World: Lost Memory-
Libraries and Archives Destroyed in the Twentieth Century” Paris: UNESCO, 1- 66. Retrieved from
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/mdm/administ/pdf/LOSTMEMO.PDF Volpe, J. (2015). The godmother of virtual reality: Nonny de la Peña. Engadget.
Retrieved from
https://www.engadget.com/2015/01/24/the-godmother-of-virtual-reality-nonny- de-la-pena/.
Wildemuth, B.M. (2009). Applications of Social Research Methods to Questions in Information and Library Science. Libraries Unlimited.
Zećo, M., & Tomljanovich, W. (1996). The National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Current War. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 66(3), 294–301.
Zgonjanin, Sanja. (2005). The Prosecution of War Crimes for the Destruction of Libraries and Archives during Times of Armed Conflict. Libraries & Culture, 40(2), 1