The Expert Roundtables are small group discussions where professionals from across the audiovisual archiving community can exchange knowledge, reflect on shared challenges, and explore practical solutions on key topics. All roundtables take place in parallel. Each discussion is scheduled for approximately 30 minutes, followed by a brief wrap-up within the group, after which participants will rotate to a new table.
1. “Digital Oil” of the AI Age: Licensing archive materials for AI algorithm training
Moderated by Brecht Declercq
Broadcast archive collections have become the “digital oil” of the AI age. As technology companies seek access to vast quantities of curated content and metadata, those responsible for these archives face difficult choices: should they license their collections for AI training, and under what conditions? This peer discussion will examine the opportunities, risks and governance questions surrounding AI licensing, from copyright and public value to ethics, accountability and institutional strategy.
2. Archives & Ethics
Moderated by Louise Broch
As a follow up of the FIAT/IFTA webinar in May and the workshop “Ethical Challenges in Broadcasting Archives” at the conference, this session gives the opportunity to openly discuss ethical considerations of AV-collections. When it comes to re-publishing harmful, biased and outdated archive footage, sensitivity and prudent handling is required. Attendees are welcome to bring their showcases and exchange their experiences on this field.
3. The power of a taxonomy for the entire organization and content reporting
Moderated by Patrick Monette
Audiovisual archives services are reinventing themselves by putting their expertise in information management more broadly to the benefit of the organization. The management of standardized information in the organization is sometimes an unsuspected force. A controlled vocabulary or an organizational taxonomy allows the description standardization that can be used in different archival and content production systems. Various advantages can therefore result from this, such as the identification of entities with a unique identifier allowing the information linking in the various systems, the simplification and the efficiency of cataloguing practices as well as the production reports for production monitoring purposes. And you, what do you think and/or experiment about it?
4. Archiving Non-Linear AV Content (TikTok, Instagram): From Production to Archive
Moderated by Máire Aoibhinn Ní Ógáin
How, what & where to archive non-linear content? There is so much content being created and posted on third-party platforms. It’s difficult to have any visibility on what is being created and if indeed the production teams are saving any of the content or metadata. What is your experience? Share your showcases.
5. Protect your Teams from Violent and Shocking Images and Sounds
Moderated by Christine Braemer
How to protect your teams from violent or shocking images, sounds and content? Documentalists, archivists, librarians but also other professions (editors, image and sound restorers, technicians, journalists, etc.) dealing with violent audio or video – and even written - content are potentially exposed to so-called "vicarious trauma". How is this issue addressed in the various archive departments? What best practices can be shared?
6. Digital Preservation
Moderated by Miroslav Čuljat
The round table will address awareness and practical aspects of Digital Preservation. What are our organisations doing or planning to do in this space? For example, have we implemented, or are we planning to implement, the OAIS model for preservation of digital archival objects? Do we adhere to recognised metadata standards? Do we perform any file integrity checks, and how do we do migrations?
7. What Gets Archives Funded
Moderated by Ali Blake
Archive and preservation teams rarely compete for budget on their own terms. Whether the case is commercial (licensing and monetization), risk-based (cost of inaction, format obsolescence, legal exposure) or mandate-driven (public value, cultural obligation), most institutions default to one case when a different one may land better with their leadership. This roundtable brings together archivists and preservation leads to compare what has actually worked internally, and what hasn't, when making the case for investment. Bring your own funding battles, won or lost.
8. Indigenous Peoples and Media Archives
Moderated by Kris Clemens
This roundtable will discuss considerations related to Indigenous Peoples and media archives. Topics may include ethical considerations related to racist/harmful depictions; navigating copyright and licensing policies to provide access for Indigenous Peoples to their cultural and linguistic knowledge; Indigenizing metadata; and avenues for greater collaboration between media archives and Indigenous Peoples.
9. Developing an Institutional AI Policy
Moderated by Johan Oomen
Many organisations in the FIAT/IFTA community are currently in the middle of developing and adopting organisational AI policies. These efforts require organisations to make practical choices about acceptable use, risk, responsibility, staff capability and the relationship between AI adoption and institutional values. These processes are far from straightforward, as many conflicting attitudes about how AI should and should not be used often coexist within the same organisational context. This means that inevitably some people will disagree with choices made at the policy level and will be hesitant or refuse to adhere to them. So how can we ensure that the organisation as a whole gets behind its AI policies? We think it is important to consider not only what these policies say but also how they are developed. We frame AI policy development as a trust and capacity building exercise that can help different parts of the organisation better understand each other’s perspectives on AI. During this roundtable, participants will converse on strategies to engage colleagues in their organisations in co-development of AI policies which can lead to better understanding, ownership and accountability. Participants will leave with practical ideas, peer-tested approaches and concrete questions to take back to their own organisations.
10. AV-Professionals in the Age of AI
Moderated by Rita Marques and Cristiane Costa
Artificial Intelligence is transforming audiovisual archives, reshaping how professional knowledge is created, shared, and applied across archive teams. As AI increasingly assists in cataloging, retrieval, and documentation tasks, important questions arise: How will early-career professionals develop expertise if AI performs many of the tasks that traditionally fostered learning? What skills will define the next generation of archivists and documentalists? Which archival activities should be automated, and where does human judgment remain essential? This peer discussion invites participants to share experiences exploring how organizations can balance automation with learning and the long-term preservation of professional expertise.
11. Preserving Images in Contexts of Risk
Moderated by Lincoln Péricles
This roundtable explores audiovisual preservation in communities affected by violence, political instability, displacement, limited resources, and institutional neglect. Moving beyond conventional archives, the discussion will consider community-led
