Talent Story No. 2

“We formed really close relationships on this assignment”

After joining Arkhênum in 2015 as part of an end-of-study internship, Lisa Le Goff has never left! And with good reason, too: she’s at home here and has climbed up the ladder, taking on responsibilities she dreamed of as an international project manager.

Lisa has a preparatory class training from Chartes school in heritage conservation together with a vocational master’s degree in digital publishing and heritage. She soon understood that it was essential nowadays to combine these two disciplines. It follows that Arkhênum was the perfect place for her to kick off her career.

A first job in Paris

Lisa was hired first in July 2015 as a control and processing operator for four months. She soon honed her skills and was appointed junior project manager until April 2018. At the same time, the United Nations hired Arkhênum to digitise the archives of the League of Nations in Geneva, and the company appointed Lisa project manager for this vital work.

The UN: an amazing digitisation project

“This project was extraordinary in many ways: not just in terms of the volume of documents that had to be processed but also because of how long it lasted and its international dimension – not to mention the number of people who were involved,” explains Lisa. For four-and-a-half years, Lisa and her team of five operators were embedded in the group of 30 people (including Arkhênum employees and UN staff) working on digitising and promoting 14 million pages. The project’s aim was two-fold: to preserve the physical collection in the best possible condition and to give researchers and the general public around the world the opportunity to consult the unpublished archives on the internet.

“The project clearly enabled the company and me to step up a size,” admits Lisa. “Every document we processed is a little piece of history that was added to the broader history we already know.” Lisa turns to the example of a felt flower – a poppy – that she discovered between two sheets of scrap paper: it was, she explains, a symbol of gratitude to British soldiers during the Great War. And then there was the letter she found from a young woman asking for news about her mother, who she was unable to get in touch with in 1933 in Warsaw. “The passage of time and historical awareness add real value to these unique documents,” concludes Lisa. “Having the chance to get up close to them is really stimulating”.

An international milestone

As a result of this mission, Lisa was put in charge of the on-site workshop, monitoring the quality of the final images and processing, and delivering them to the client as well as leading the reporting meetings. She was the key point of contact for the UN teams and Arkhênum’s on-site representative. All these duties have given Lisa confidence and an appetite for international work. She enjoys operating in environments where English is spoken, and with people from diverse backgrounds who have very different views about digitisation and archives. “We formed really close relationships on this assignment,” adds Lisa.

In Lisa’s eyes, Arkhênum really does reveal the past, especially when clients with archive collections don’t know all the details about them. For instance, on a project to restore the blueprints of the University of Cape Town, the digitisation process revealed previously-invisible information on the paper plans. As Lisa points out, “Our profession uncovers some nice surprises”.

What motivates Lisa in her day-to-day work?

Chaque page tournée est une histoire archivée

Arkhênum brings its heritage expertise to Ethiopia

Experts from Arkhênum, a MEMORIST company, have just finished work on the Sustainable Lalibela project in Ethiopia. Led by the CNRS and executed by the French Center for Ethiopian Studies, this project formed part of a Franco-Ethiopian plan to restore, conserve and enhance the Lalibela archaeological site.

Sustainable Lalibela: 5 areas of intervention

The project’s primary objective was to preserve and enhance the site. As such, it included a major archaeological component, but there was also a heritage preservation component that included the creation of a digital heritage resource centre. It was for this component that Arkhênum’s expertise was required. 

Establishing an autonomous heritage digitisation workshop and training local staff to manage the digitisation process was an important step in the preservation of Lalibela’s documentary collections. There are 200 manuscripts preserved in the 11 churches, but they are not accessible to the public.

Setting up a digitisation workshop

The Arkhênum team first conducted an audit to define the requirements of the digitisation workshop to be set up on site: types of scanners, digitisation accessories, software, etc. 

The various components were then delivered to the Lalibela site which is located in the heart of the Ethiopian highlands, 400km from the capital Addis Ababa. 

Project manager Lisa then set up the digitisation workshop in the presence of the local trainees.

2 weeks of intensive training

The training brought together 15 participants made up of local clergy, staff from the Lalibela cultural centre and the Lalibela museum. 

Conducted in English and Amharic, it equipped the learners with the skills to ensure that the site’s preservation continues long after the Arkhênum team has returned to France.

The theoretical training covered:

• How to complete an inventory file after digitisation
• How to analyse a collection for digitisation (status report, feasibility)
• The practice of digitisation and points of vigilance
• The generation of deliverables (file layout and organisation)
• Metadata management

Our Project Manager Lisa reflects on this experience.

Every page turned is an archived story

4 APRIL 2024

Talent Story No. 1

“Arkhênum has always been a part of my personal and professional life.”

A thirst for history

Educating heritage experts in every city

Laurent, who has seen digital technology and its uses metamorphose over the years, was soon promoted to the role of project manager to tackle the growing number of projects. In 2005, Laurent began to change tack, heading for Toulouse and a new job where he would be in direct contact with clients as a salesperson. At the time, Laurent responded to the needs of cultural institutions looking for advice about heritage digitisation and related services. He secured the loyalty of new clients for a decade or so in the south of France.

Spearheading a team of enthusiasts

It was the right time in 2016 for Arkhênum to become part of the Mobilitas Group, which gave the company a window onto the world. Mobilitas appointed Laurent managing director thanks to his knowledge of the company and the industry, not to mention his experience. “It was a dream come true,” he says now, “and like being thrown in at the deep end”. He set himself the goal of building on the energy of the company and its partners to give it a new, more diversified approach.

Proud of our achievements and living up to our name

“My enthusiasm for the job in this firm, which creates employee loyalty particularly well, is primarily down to the relationship we can have with the documents we process.” Among Arkhênum’s most recent large-scale projects, Laurent thinks back to the 2020 contract signed with the Wildenstein Plattner Institute (WPI) in France. The project was interesting for its own sake as it involved digitising the archives of experts in authenticating works of art. In addition, it meant that Arkhênum could carry on operating during the Covid pandemic while adhering to the necessary preventive measures.

Laurent sees Arkhênum as a shared adventure with employees who work together to help preserve heritage collections worldwide. It’s thanks to these teams that the firm has succeeded in building a global service based on preserving and promoting heritage. Arkhênum is handling more and more cases in France and internationally that require considerable technical expertise. These projects also have a genuine strategic dimension to them, particularly for private companies.

What motivates Laurent in his day-to-day work?

Every page turned is an archived story

Arkhênum signs deal with German Museum of Books and Writing

The German National Library turns to Arkhênum once more

Following a first project that saw Arkhênum’s German team produce around 2.5 million digital images for the German National Library (DNB) between 2021 and 2023, the team will now begin work for the German Book and Writing Museum in Leipzig.

Founded in 1884, the Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum is the oldest museum of its kind in the world. Housed in the DNB, the institution is devoted to collecting and conserving objects and documents relating to literature and books.

Selecting the best of the latest technology: heritage scanners

Adapting to each client’s specific needs is a challenge for Arkhênum’s staff – which is why our technical experts stay abreast of the latest technological developments.

As part of the project, and due to the inability of certain manuscripts to open a full 180°,  our experts will use the latest generation of heritage scanners, capable of digitising at a 45° angle.

The project will require no fewer than six heritage scanners of four different types to meet the museum’s specific requirements.

Scanning is scheduled to start in the summer of 2023 and will last for two years, with the option to extend for a further two years.

Every page turned is an archived story

7 MARCH 2023

Musée Maritime de La Rochelle safeguards its watercolour collections

Arkhênum’s mission: digitally preserving Maritime Museum’s heritage collection

With its heritage fleet and range of exhibition spaces, the Musée Maritime de La Rochelle immerses visitors in the region’s exciting maritime history. The onshore exhibition features small pleasure boats, maritime objects and models. A collection of watercolours will be added to the museum’s archives for long-term preservation.

The Museum commissioned Arkhênum to physically and digitally preserve its collection. Our specialists carried out preliminary work to remove the watercolours from their frames.

Repacking the collections in paper pouches and PH neutral boxes will guarantee their long-term conservation. The Arkhênum team will be responsible for identifying documents and recording the inventory numbers on the packaging.

Operators will digitally safeguard the watercolours. Creating these digital duplicates will not only ensure the long-term preservation of these collections but will also open opportunities for new media, particularly digital media.

Arkhênum will provide its global expertise across the entire project, from gathering customer requirements and analysing documents to digitising heritage documents. 

Ready to bring your project into the digital age? Contact us today.

Every page turned is an archived story