Bettina Fabos

The Open Archive Portal Network is an internationally federated network based in Geneva, Switzerland that represents innovative open archive photo history portals across the world. Our goals: Preserving and sharing vernacular history: We all started these initiatives separately to fill a clear public need that wasn’t being met by established institutions in our country. We are preserving and sharing local historical artifacts and telling stories about everyday life. Our projects are igniting public memory through local photos, audiovisual recordings, and documents. Digital innovation: We have all designed mapping, timeline, exhibit, and navigation platforms that organize cultural heritage in terms of place, time, and theme, with an eye on user experience and community engagement. We have gained significant experience in serving local communities and user interface design that makes sense to everyday people. Collaboration: Our projects exist in many different countries (currently across Europe, the U.S., and South America). We are joining forces to make our individual projects more sustainable: By establishing the OPAN federation based in Geneva, Switzerland, we are expanding our network, finding paths for funding, sharing code and interface designs, and sharing best practices.