Sandra Aguilar, Metadata Manager at USC’s Shoah Foundation, is more than just a curator of data. She is a custodian of memories, a preserver of voices, and a vital part of an organization dedicated to educating the world about the horrors of genocide.
In a recent conversation, Sandra shared the intricate and meaningful work she does with the Shoah Foundation, a task that blends technology, history, and humanity.
From Hollywood to History: The Shoah Foundation’s Genesis
The Shoah Foundation was born from a unique intersection of filmmaking and historical preservation. Steven Spielberg founded the Institute in 1994 after completing the film “Schindler’s List.” Profoundly moved by the stories he encountered during the film’s production, Spielberg established the foundation to videotape and preserve interviews with survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust. Initially based at Universal Studios, the Shoah Foundation moved to its permanent home at USC in January 2006, where it continues its mission today.
An Unparalleled Archive
The archive houses over 57,466 audiovisual testimonies conducted in 70 countries and in 37 languages. Each testimony averages over two hours in length, covering personal history before, during, and after firsthand experiences with genocide. In total, 119,565 hours of video testimony have been recorded, with all content indexed and searchable to the minute. The foundation’s commitment to technological innovation is reflected in its 11 patents on digital collection management technologies it developed.
Indexing Memories: The Art and Science of Metadata
Sandra’s role overseeing 19 archivists and indexers is pivotal in making these testimonies accessible to researchers, educators, and the public. “What the archivist team does is take care of the metadata and documentation as it comes into the Shoah Foundation from partners or from the Shoah Foundation’s own production initiatives,” Sandra explains. After the media is preserved in post-production, the indexing team works meticulously to index the oral histories of Holocaust and genocide survivors. The process involves custom-made applications that segment testimonies into one-minute segments, each eligible for specific terms from a vast thesaurus containing around 70,000 entries.
Sandra elaborates, “While someone is indexing, they’re listening to the testimony, searching for terms that relate to what the person is talking about, and applying those terms according to our indexing guidelines.” This curation ensures that each testimony can be searched, whether by geographical location, historical event, or personal experience, making the Shoah Foundation’s archive an invaluable resource for many research purposes.
Challenges and Collaborations: A Global Effort
The scope of the Shoah Foundation’s work extends beyond the Holocaust. Sandra’s team collaborates with partners worldwide to document other genocides, such as the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. “We just completed a project last year of 10 testimonies that were filmed at Kigali Genocide Memorial,” Sandra explained, highlighting the foundation’s ongoing commitment to preserving a broad spectrum of human experiences.
Working with international partners poses unique challenges, from linguistic barriers to funding constraints. “We have a collection of Holocaust testimonies from the Roma people, but we don’t have anyone on staff right now who speaks their languages,” Sandra said. Despite these hurdles, the foundation continually seeks to overcome obstacles through collaborations and the generosity of donors who understand the importance of this work. Recently, Bosnian testimonies were added to the Visual History Archive in early 2022, further expanding the foundation’s reach.
Innovations in Preservation: Embracing Technology
Sandra is optimistic about the potential of new technologies to enhance their work. The foundation is exploring the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) for indexing and transcription. “We’ve started testing the human index versus the machine index,” she says. While AI currently tends to over-index by not discerning the relevance of every term mentioned, it holds promise as a tool for initial indexing. This can expedite the process, allowing human experts to refine the results.
Beyond indexing, technology also plays a role in making the archive more accessible. The foundation’s Visual History Archive offers a searchable database where users can explore testimonies by various criteria. Additionally, theiWitness educational platformprovides activities aligned with educational standards, using survivor testimonies to teach important lessons to younger generations.
A Personal Mission: Sandra’s Passion for Preservation
For Sandra, working at the Shoah Foundation is more than a job—it’s a mission. “All of our indexers are historians, and they all have significant educational backgrounds in the history of the Holocaust,” she explains. This expertise, combined with a shared dedication to preserving memory, fuels their meticulous work.
Sandra’s passion for her role is evident. “There’s a lot of knowledge and care on the part of the indexer that goes into understanding the interviewee’s story and capturing its significance with indexing terms,” she says. This involves not only historical knowledge but also a deep empathy for the experiences of survivors. It’s this combination of skill and compassion that makes Sandra and her team so effective at what they do.
Guardians of Memory
The Shoah Foundation stands as a guardian of memory, ensuring that the voices of those who endured the unthinkable are preserved and heard. Through the innovative use of technology and unwavering commitment to accuracy and empathy, they continue to educate and inspire future generations, reminding us all of the importance of remembering our past to build a better future. As the Institute celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2024, under the leadership of Dr. Robert J. Williams, Finci-Viterbi Executive Director of USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education, it remains dedicated to its mission of remembrance and education.
For more information, visitThe Visual History ArchiveandUSC Shoah Foundation.
