K-OAr, the CLARIN Knowledge Centre for Oral Archives, intends to offer consultancy on the preservation, study, use, and reuse of oral archives. Hosted at the University of Siena’s Arezzo Campus within the Department of Philology and Literary Criticism (DFCLAM), K-OAr aims to support researchers, archivists, historians, documentalists, and ethnomusicologists by providing expert advice on digitization processes, ethical management, GDPR-compliant privacy frameworks, informed consent, metadata description, and cataloging strategies. The centre will guide professionals in adopting sustainable practices for managing and reusing oral archives.
As part of the CLARIN Knowledge Centre network, K-OAr will contribute to the broader CLARIN infrastructure, which offers structured access to expertise in language resources and technology. CLARIN Knowledge Centres are hubs that provide guidance and services in specialized areas, helping researchers and professionals access tools, data, and best practices related to language-focused research. K-OAr’s specialization in oral archives will complement this network by addressing the unique challenges of preserving spoken heritage.
A milestone of the STOA Project, funded as a nationally significant initiative under PRIN 2022, K-OAr aims to promote shared standards and best practices for oral archive management. It will collaborate closely with the Tavolo Permanente per le Fonti Orali to develop guidelines on legal, ethical, and technical aspects of working with oral archives, ensuring compliance with national and international regulations.
The centre also plans to foster scholarly dialogue through the Oral Archives Journal (OAr), an open-access publication dedicated to oral heritage. By engaging with the academic community, K-OAr will encourage knowledge sharing and innovative research. Its mission is to ensure that oral archives are responsibly preserved, managed, and made accessible for future generations, thus safeguarding this crucial part of our intangible cultural heritage.
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