Latin American Digital Initiatives (LADI) is a collaboration between LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections at The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas Libraries, and Latin American partner institutions to preserve and provide access to unique archival documentation from Latin America, with an emphasis on collections documenting human rights.
We are always happy to hear from you. Please email us if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions: lb-digital@utexas.edu.
The collections in LADI have been digitized over the course of several years through post-custodial archival collaborations between LLILAS Benson and partner repositories in Latin America. Post-custodialism is a collaborative, non-extractive, mutualistic approach to providing access to archival collections within their original contexts of creation. Through these collaborations, LLILAS Benson aims to support the development of partners' archival capacity, particularly in the areas of digitization, preservation, arrangement, description, and access. The collections in LADI have been digitized and described by partner repository staff, who provide the rich contextual knowledge captured in each collection's descriptive metadata.
This work is guided by a commitment to nurturing reciprocal relationships between a network of local and international collaborators. Together, we use post-custodial methods and digital technologies to facilitate preservation, access, teaching, research, and public engagement. We aim to build a horizontal community of post-custodial practice by connecting Latin American partners with one another while decentering our own role in the network.
LADI is a collaboration between LLILAS Benson, the University of Texas Libraries, and each partner organization in Latin America. LADI and some of its collections have been made possible in part through grants from the Mellon Foundation, the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme, and the Center for Research Libraries.