In March 2010, representatives from 25 universities and museums with access to the Visual History Archive came to the Institute for the International Digital Access, Outreach, and Research Conference, an unprecedented opportunity for collaborative learning and dialogue about the use of the archive in research and higher education.

The two-day conference was made possible through funding from the Jim Joseph Foundation, which is assisting the Institute’s worldwide effort to broaden access to the testimonies and increase their educational use throughout the world.

Nearly 60 academicians participated in the conference. Together, they discussed some of the most thought-provoking issues related to the archive and its content, such as when to provide context for testimony, and to what extent; the emotional aspect of testimony-based inquiry; the reliability of testimony as a resource for verifying the accuracy of other source material; and how testimony differs from other kinds of historical documentation. Professor Omer Bartov, the John P. Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European History, Professor of History, and Professor of German Studies at Brown University, delivered the keynote address.

“The generous gift from the Jim Joseph Foundation enabled us to host a crucial gathering of colleagues from institutions that have, along with the Institute, taken upon themselves the responsibility of bearing the voices of the survivor generation far into the future,” said Stephen D. Smith, Institute Executive Director. “The conference resulted in a deeper, collective understanding of the archive’s potential, and it has allowed us to initiate the communal process through which a framework of practice will take shape to inform the use of the archive in the future.