Sustaining Practices

• Fragmentation, and dissociation: This model attempts to reverse the fragmentation of linguistic or musical events common to traditional archives by ensuring community involvement and contextual sensitivity. In maintaining contextual data and linkages, it attempts to prevent the disconnection of cultural expressions from their source communities - "schizophonia" (Schaeffer, 1969, 2004) - and subsequent transformation and commodification over which source communities have little or no control - "schizmogenesis" (Feld, 1994).
• Dynamic archiving model: The multi-vocal dialogic archiving model attempts to capture histories of interactivity, both human and non-human, as part of the archive itself. Combined with multi-vocality, this allows us to model the dynamics of oral traditions as a living archive, rather than capture cultural heritage as a set of unitary, static archival objects.
• Power Imbalances and Digital Dispossession: The co-custody approach and community-specific access conditions counteract the marginalisation and disenfranchisement often experienced by culture bearers. This model aims to redistribute power more equitably, ensuring that digital transformations do not result in further loss of control over cultural heritage (Shilton & Srinivasan, 2007).
• Ethical Considerations and Access: By integrating ethical guidelines into the archival process, such as respecting the rights and wishes of community members, this model promotes a balanced approach that considers academic rigour and cultural sensitivity.

The Multivocal Dialogic Archive Prototype is a proactive response to the need for more equitable, culturally sensitive archiving practices. By embracing a community-centred, collaborative framework, this model fosters a richer, more nuanced understanding of cultural materials while ensuring that the rights and voices of culture bearers are at the forefront of our efforts to Sustain Practices.