The material of the "Testimonies" archive can be divided in three basic categories:

• Videotaped interviews (video interviews)
• Audio interviews
• Autobiographical texts

The interviews are initially recorded and filed in analogue or digital media and formats:

• The videotaped interviews were initially recorded in analog formats, in BETA videotapes and there are also very few Hi8 formats by amateurs. They are now digitally recorded in mini DV tapes.
• The audio interviews are recorded in videotapes, in digital voice recorders while the overwhelming majority of recent ones is recorded in digital voice recorders with memory card.
• The autobiographical texts are usually handwritten in various types and qualities of paper, or typed and seldom written on a computer. As a rule, they remain in the hands of their writers and families of writers. The department keeps their digital copies and photocopies while the content is rewritten on the computer.

Processing testimonies entails an initial digitalization stage. By digitalizing we create digital copies that are used either as working copies so that we can study the testimonies without wearing out the prototype, or so as to create presentations in public, in our offices, in the Hellenic World premises and on the Internet. Complementary safety copies and working copies are given to the depositors of testimonies and to their families of the departed, as well as to local institutions with which we form partnerships.

The records of testimonies are based on the depositor on two levels. The actual material - the originals - are kept in the special department of the FHW´s Library and the digital copies are kept in at least two places for reasons of safety, the first of which is the Genealogy department of where the copies are saved in CDs or DVDs and in external hard drives. The material that was initially recorded in BETA is being digitalized and stored in non-compressed formats (DV, avi) in mini DV magnetic tapes ( cassettes).

"Testimony" copies are kept:

• In moving picture digital files of MPEG2 formats for all the material, in Quick Time format for the extracts that appear on the internet or in presentations in local networks and in avi files recorded in mini DVs for the material that was originally recorded in magnetic media.
• In digital WMA sound files to be kept and reproduced locally, and in mp3 files for extracts that are presented on the Internet. Their record keeping includes also storage in sound CDs that can be played on common household CD players.
• In MSWord and Open Office documents for the transcriptions of interviews that are stored in a Computer for processing, as well as the autobiographical texts, and in PDF files, after they have been processed for Internet or local network presentation.

Testimonies or parts of testimonies with limited access that require special arrangements for reasons of deontology or because of the wish of the "informants", are excluded. Those who so wish, may ask for the text or the extract of the interview they are interested in online, by choosing Acquire Testimonies and Acquire Evidence.

It must be noted that in each reference to a publication or for any other use, the Project, The Genealogy Department, the FHW and the associate organizations or individuals that contributed to its creation should clearly and visibly be mentioned.

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