The Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo (GAM) Digital Archive is collaborative, post-custodial digitization project that aims to preserve and provide access to materials held by Guatemala’s oldest human rights organization. The GAM’s archive contains a unique set of textual and audiovisual materials of significance to ongoing human rights trials and Guatemala’s historical memory. This project demo focuses on the recently-launched digital archive which features GAM’s collection of testimony and documentation on over 3,700 cases of forced disappearance Guatemala’s armed internal conflict. Built with Django, the archive’s features include transcriptions; metadata; search; and case summaries. The project demo will focus on how the partnership between Haverford College Libraries staff and undergraduates and GAM staff informed key design decisions, particularly on ethics and privacy. Participants will also utilize the digital archive in a series of exercises designed to show its potential for researchers, legal experts, and a broad public.
