Sam Gustman will present "Humanity through Technology," a lecture at The Westport Library on the USC Shoah Foundation’s collection of, dissemination, and teaching with more than 60,000 audio and video testimonies from survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides.
In case you missed the event, you may watch the recorded program here.
Gustman is the associate dean and chief technology officer for the USC Shoah Foundation and USC Libraries. He joined the Shoah Foundation soon after it was founded by Steven Spielberg in 1994 and has since been at the forefront of collecting and preserving the Visual History Archive — the world’s largest collection of primary source video testimonies — and making them accessible for research, education, and outreach for the betterment of humankind in perpetuity.
About to enter its 30th year, the USC Shoah Foundation today continues to collect new testimonies and develop innovative research and educational materials for schools, universities, and museums. In his lecture Gustman will speak to this work, as well as demonstrate AI, video streaming, search, and the latest learning management system technologies deployed by the foundation.
KEY FACTS
The USC Shoah Foundation houses more than 56,000 audio-visual testimonies conducted in 65 countries and in 44 languages.
Steven Spielberg founded the institute in 1994 to videotape and preserve interviews with survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust after making the award-winning film Schindler’s List.
The Institute holds 13 patents on digital collection management technologies it developed.
The Institute will celebrate its 30th Anniversary in 2024.
The Shoah Foundation moved to its permanent home at the University of Southern California in January 2006.
Testimonies average over two hours in length, including personal history before, during, and after firsthand experience with genocide.
115,000 hours of video testimony have been recorded with all content indexed and searchable to the minute.
Bosnian testimonies were added to the Visual History Archive in early 2022.
Dr. Robert Williams serves as Finci-Viterbi Executive Director of USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education.
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER AND ASSOCIATE DEAN OF THE USC SHOAH FOUNDATION AND USC LIBRARIES
Gustman has been chief technology officer (CTO) of the Shoah Foundation since 1994. He is also associate dean and CTO at the USC Libraries, where he oversees IT for the Libraries and started the USC Digital Repository.
As CTO of the USC Shoah Foundation, Gustman provides technical leadership for the integration of the Institute’s digital archives into USC’s collection of electronic resources, ensuring the Archive’s accessibility to academic and research communities at USC and around the world. He is responsible for the operations, preservation, and cataloging of the Institute’s 8-petabyte digital library, one of the largest public video databases in the world. He also manages the videography group responsible for the collection of both traditional oral testimony and interactive AI testimony from genocide survivors and witnesses. His office offers technical support for universities and organizations that subscribe to the Institute’s Visual History Archive. His office also provides website support and duplication services for USC Shoah Foundation.
Gustman has 31 years of leadership experience in information technology, 29 with USC Shoah Foundation. In addition to his responsibilities for USC Shoah Foundation and USC Libraries, he has been the primary investigator on grants from the National Science Foundation and other granting organizations and is the inventor on 16 patents.
More Resources on History
More Resources on Technology
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
