Interview with Marie-Laurence Dubois, information management expert

Founder of Valorescence, a company specialized in information governance and managerial archiving, Marie-Laurence Dubois has been working in this profession for over twenty-five years. After a career in several institutions — including a bank, the Council of State and various ministerial cabinets —, she created and managed a private archives center in Namur for ten years. Since 2015, through Valoescence, she has been putting her expertise at the service of organizations wishing to improve their information governance, knowledge sharing and the archiving of their data. At the same time, she chaired the Federation of Information Managers and Archivists (Aksoni) from 2015 to 2021, and works as a guest professor at several universities, where she teaches the challenges of information governance and the environmental impact of digital technology.

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Could you introduce yourself and explain what your profession consists of, or more generally, your daily mission?

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As an information governance and archiving consultant, I support SMEs, ASBLs, but also all public or private organizations, in the structuring and restructuring of their data, documents and objects. My objective is always the same: to ensure their preservation over the long term. It is this temporal perspective that undoubtedly distinguishes my approach: I am still wondering about the capacity that we will have, in a hundred years, to still read, consult or use the information we produce today, regardless of its medium — paper or digital. My link to objects starts with the one I maintain with the archives. By definition, an archive is any data or information, regardless of its medium, date or form, produced or received, by any natural or legal person in the exercise of its activities. As such, I have therefore developed a very varied knowledge of the different types of objects and supports.

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If you had to take only one item with you, what would it be? And why?

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Tough question! Without hesitation, I would say a photo album, with images of the people I care about. But not only that: I would also carry the documents proving the ownership of my goods, in order to be able to demonstrate, upon my return, what legitimately belongs to me.

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How have you been managing your valuables and their documentation so far?

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As we often say, shoemakers have the worst shoes! Personally, I have not yet taken the time to document my own objects. However, it is a goal that I have set for myself, especially since I had to empty my parents' house recently. There I recovered objects steeped in history, which did not belong directly to me but were part of the family heritage. So I know that one day, I will take the time to inventory and document them, if only to pass them on to the next generation. But for now, this project remains to be done on a personal level. On the other hand, on the professional level, it's just the opposite: I document constantly. I sort, organize, classify archives and create structured inventories. The objective is not only to order things, but to allow my clients — or anyone interested in these archives — to easily access documents and to value their heritage, whether documentary or material. The first step is therefore always to carry out a clear inventory, based on categories of objects or pieces, according to standards that facilitate understanding, exchange and valuation.

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What is the big challenge for an archivist like you?

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A good information system should not be a single tool that would do everything, but rather a set of tools capable of being articulated between them.In digital archiving environments, we are talking today about modular architectures, composed of several specialized bricks, capable of communicating and complementing each other, each having its own function. The main asset of any database or business application is interoperality—an essential quality for any IT development today. It must be able to exchange data securely with other tools, via web services, without the need to develop everything yourself. The digital archiving tool, for example, must be able to properly store information and ensure its accessibility by interacting with websites or other applications that make it possible to highlight this content. In the case of the Access collective, there is a real valuation platform, a bit like an information reservoir. This reservoir must be able to communicate in an interoperable manner, while complying with standards such as the OIS standard, which is now a European and international reference. But beyond interoperability, what is essential for me is to be able to retrieve and transfer your data at any time. In a long-term perspective, this is a crucial guarantee. That is why I pay particular attention to it in each specification that I write. A tool can be interoperable, without allowing data to be extracted in a clean format that can be used later and in the long term. However, not all software on the market guarantees this. However, it is a fundamental criterion to ensure the sustainability and reuse of information over time. The history of computing is full of examples of disappeared media: diskettes, CDs... which today are only used to play Frisbee, unless you have kept an old player! Even some apps, like iTunes, disappeared overnight, leaving users without access to their own music. These losses are a reminder of how the sustainability of digital technology remains a challenge.

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“What is essential for meIt's about power recover and transfer your data at any time.”

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Is the value of an object financial or emotional? Do you have an example?

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For me, the value of an archive — and of an object by extension — depends above all on its identification. An archive without a date, without an author, without a context of creation loses all its value. The content of a document without a title can sometimes be interpreted, but without precise indications of source, it becomes difficult to ascribe reliable meaning to it. The first step is therefore to locate an archive in time and in its context: to know who produced it, when and why. This is what gives it its intrinsic value, even before any other form of value — whether financial, emotional or symbolic. It should also be remembered that an archive is primarily used by its producer. It makes it possible to justify an action, to trace a process, to prove a work. In the case of a creator, it attests to the authorship of a work. It is only then that it takes on historical or heritage value. A concrete example: that of an airplane engine. Its lifespan can be guaranteed for up to fifty years. If an accident occurs 45 years later, the manufacturer must be able to prove that the engine was not at fault. This requires keeping all technical data sheets, procedures and quality controls. Without this documentation, it is impossible to justify yourself a posteriori. In short, to document is to anticipate the evidence. This is what gives value to information over the long term.

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Do you have a striking anecdote related to a recent climate disaster?

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Yes. I remember very well that I was called on a Friday evening, in the middle of the floods in Vesdre, during the disaster in Belgium. He was a well known Belgian director. I was told: “What can we do? ” Unfortunately, there was not much to do. The water, muddy and full of oil from the gutted oil tanks, had contaminated everything. His archives were stored in a garage on the banks of the Meuse. The first floor had been overwhelmed, and the file server was severely damaged. Of course, the final versions of his films are at the Cinémathèque, but all the raw material — rush, documentation, testimonies from his work — has disappeared.

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“Documenting means anticipating the evidence. This is what gives value to information over the long term.”

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A part of history lost forever. This example illustrates how it is sometimes better to entrust your archives to a public or private archives center, where they will be kept in good conditions. You don't lose ownership: deposit agreements exist to guarantee the rights of the depositor. We thus benefit from a secure and professional environment. Losing archives means losing not only the possibility of having evidence to assert one's rights or one's work but also losing some of one's memory. The archivist is there to avoid these losses and to ensure that small stories can feed into the big story of our societies.

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What advice would you give for managing assets and valuables?

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Above all, you must protect your objects from the worst enemies: cold, humidity and dust. These are the main causes of degradation. The priority is therefore to ensure conservation conditions. Then, it is interesting to sort and inventory our objects or archives in order to keep traces of their existence and facilitate their identification. It is only after this stage that we should think about digitization, which is an action of valorization generally and in some cases of preservation (if the object or the archive has suffered material damage...).

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You tested Objectory, what do you think?

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I find the tool very intuitive, which is already an excellent point. It's perfect for anyone who wants to start inventorying what they own — whether it's personal items, valuables, or collections. Two main audiences come to mind:

• Collectors, who want to document and structure their heritage;

• Creators or artists, all disciplines combined, who want to list their works and keep track of them.

The tool is an excellent basis for a clear and structured inventory. My only reservation concerns the security and sustainability of data: it is essential to know where it is stored, how it is secured, and whether it can be exported easily. This comprehensive export functionality is crucial to ensure their reuse over time. It is also desirable that the application integrates environmental impact since its design, use and long-term sustainable maintenance. For example, I would avoid adding very high resolution photos or videos — a lightweight image is often enough for a long time and reduces storage considerably. Finally, if the metadata is well calibrated according to existing standards, Objectory could be used as an initial survey, before being transferred to more specialized databases — for example an archive center, an insurance company or an auction house.

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