It is exactly four months to the Conference and Community Showcase we are organising. As you are probably already aware, Pararchive seeks to build new interactive environments that explore issues of ownership, public and institutional relationships and provide tools for collaborative community research and creative expression using digital heritage resources. It was motivated by the recognition that communities are encountering real barriers to organising and connecting to resources and each other. In the field of heritage it is often difficult to access archival materials from public cultural institutions owing to bureaucratic, commercial and geographical barriers, something that impedes community research and connectivity. It is often difficult to establish relationships between communities and institutions that could and should be mutually enriching.

We have been asking how best to approach these problems and deal with issues such as copyright, collaborative working, impact and building an open source digital environment to facilitate connectivity and build a set of lasting legacies. We now want to widen our conversation by inviting community groups, activists and campaigners, researchers, creative professionals, cultural institutions and policymakers interested in developing and promoting research, education, collaborative working practices, policy and activism around the notion of an open access digital resource to this conference and showcase at which we will celebrate the launch of Pararchive and our community partners’ research projects.

If you are interested in attending the event but haven’t registered yet to book your free ticket, please do so via this link:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/connecting-communities-storytelling-and-the-digital-archive-conference-tickets-13845421027  You will also find more details about the event here. For any enquiries, please contact the Pararchive project team via pararchiveleeds@gmail.com.