Copying the archive before it can be lost
A physical collection can be evacuated. A digital one can be copied, and a copy in three countries cannot be destroyed by anything. Through 2022 an enormous amount of Ukrainian cultural material was scanned, photographed and mirrored abroad.
There is a limit to what evacuation can protect. You cannot move a building, and you cannot move a collection faster than a lorry. But you can copy it.
Through 2022 museums, archives and libraries scanned and photographed at a pace they had never worked at. International partners funded scanners, cameras, storage and the technicians to run them. Volunteer initiatives — technologists, librarians and archivists working remotely from many countries — archived Ukrainian cultural websites, museum databases and digital holdings onto servers outside Ukraine.
Why a copy is not a consolation prize
For a manuscript, a photograph collection, a map archive or a folk song recording, a high-quality digital surrogate carries most of the scholarly value. Researchers can work from it. It can be published, taught and studied. The physical object matters enormously, but the knowledge inside it survives separately once it is copied.
This is the quietest form of heritage protection and, measured by how much was secured for how little money, possibly the most efficient.
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