Here at the start of 2021 we at Artefactual are taking a moment to reflect on how strange, exhausting and different 2020 was for us and also for everyone around the world.
Although more than half of our staff were remote workers prior to March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic shifted Artefactual abruptly into the reality of being a 100% remote workforce in a period of just a few days. Suddenly everyone was working from home. We weren’t just remote workers but remote in a pandemic, often in proximity to spouses and roommates also trying to work, and kids and pets needing attention. Instead of travelling to conferences and camps or to client work sites in person, we were delivering training by zoom and staying home. It was disruptive. And yet we are fortunate.
Despite the pandemic, 2020 was a very busy year for Artefactual and we have done a ton of new and exciting things with clients all over the world. Many new clients signed on with us to use Archivematica or AtoM (or both) for their digital preservation and access needs. We also completed more than 25 separate projects in the areas of software development, data migration, AtoM site theming, preservation consulting and research. Plus, we released AtoM 2.6 and Archivematica 1.11 and 1.12. We are adjusting to disruption.
In a year that has caused many to reassess our ways of working and thinking, Artefactual has taken time to focus on what matters to us as a company. To consider what we value and how we work. To think about how we contribute to the work of preserving and providing access to cultural memory. To consider our work as a practice of care.
The new year is ahead and though the pandemic is still upon us, we are rolling into 2021 with energy, ready for what the new year may bring. Stay tuned for more to come.
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