Natalia Bermúdez Qvortrup holds a PhD from Oslo Metropolitan University in Archives, Library, and Information Science. Her dissertation explored the information practices of the families of the forcefully disappeared in Colombia and how private archives are being created for social accountability. Her interests center around the information practices - the search for, access to and use of human rights documentation in cases of enforced disappearance and genocide. In particular, the documentation practices of memory institutions. She is currently working on a research project that studies a series of catalogues documenting personal objects found in mass graves in Colombia.

Natalia’s articles include:

• Bermúdez Qvortrup, N., & Giraldo, M. L. 2022. “Evidence of Jorge: Documentary Traces of a Forced Disappearance in Colombia.” Archivaria, (94): 204-230.

• Bermúdez Qvortrup, N. 2022. “Archives of the Disappeared: Conceptualizing the Personal Collections of Families of Disappeared Persons.” Journal of Human Rights Practice 14(2): 582-599.

• Qvortrup, N. B. 2022. “Documenting the Armenian Genocide in Norway: the role of a National Archive in the social life of a collection.” Archives and Records 43(1): 36-55.

These three articles represent Natalia’s interest in analysing personal collections of records for human rights purposes. The first two look at private archives that families of the disappeared are creating with the help of NGOs and family organisations, to understand how and why they are created, who the creators are and what these collections mean for society. The aim with these articles is to begin the process of conceptualising these collections to recognize the record-keeping work the families are doing and include them in the wider concept of human rights archives. The third article gives a wider glimpse of the repercussions of personal collections for human rights.