The University of the Balearic Islands celebrates Archives Day this Friday with a public open day. The highlight is a talk about the logbook of Captain Antoni Barceló, dated 1783, which details the Battle of Algiers. Additionally, a free exhibition with historical documents will be available until June 19, bringing heritage closer to the public.
The archive as a historical database without the need for cloud 📜
The exhibited documents are the equivalent of a physical data server, but on paper and ink. Barceló's logbook functions as a real-time event record, with coordinates, tactical decisions, and weather conditions. The university archive applies digital conservation techniques to preserve these supports without losing the integrity of the original data, demonstrating that document management does not always require clouds or complex algorithms.
Captain Barceló: the influencer of the Mediterranean without filters ⚓
Antoni Barceló narrated his Battle of Algiers in a logbook, something like a Twitter thread but with legible handwriting and no ads. He didn't need likes to prove his worth: his strategies are still studied. Meanwhile, today we store photos of sandwiches in the cloud. Perhaps we should take note of how history was documented before 24-hour stories existed.