The imperative is to document this vast resource, facilitate access to it, and promote its preservation and use. The most important tool in achieving this objective is web-based technology.
The Foundation has conceptualised a multilayered virtual archive (portal) accessible through its website.
The following key design elements define the portal’s shape – a surface layer of stories and information; databases providing dense description of materials; linkages to actual materials, to other sites and to different layers within the site; digitised materials, from hard copy to moving images; and a social media webbing around it.
The Foundation aims to continue developing the portal, staying abreast of new technologies, and ensuring that the portal becomes the best used and most highly trusted online resource on the life and times of Nelson Mandela.
The Foundation routinely fields several thousand enquiries a year about Mr Mandela, about archival sources, access to materials, and use of Mr Mandela’s intellectual property. The Foundation constitutes a one-stop shop for all such enquiries, whatever their origin.
In addition to routine research on the life and times of Mr Mandela, the Foundation undertakes both continuing robust scoping of the broader social environments in which the organisation operates and a range of special research projects.
The Foundation, through its research and archive work:
- Locates documents and promotes the preservation of these scattered resources
- Collects and curates Mr Mandela’s personal archive
- Promotes public access to these resources
- Facilitates research by individuals and institutions
- Utilises an array of information-delivery platforms to make information available to global and local audiences
Nelson Mandela followed three rules throughout his life, which he did at great personal sacrifice: Free yourself. Free others. Serve every day. It was not just his mantra; it was his way of life.
The message behind the Nelson Mandela International Day campaign is simple – that each individual has the ability and responsibility to make an impact through public service. It is the activation of our Founder’s ethos and demonstrates that his vision has indeed inspired a global movement for good. The call to action is clear: take action, inspire change and make every day a Mandela Day.
Mandela Day will continue to become an even more vital means of honouring and activating his legacy. It joins government, civil society, industry and the general public in a common purpose.
If the legacy of Nelson Mandela’s life and work is to be dynamic, it must be "owned" by current and future generations; it must be accessible to everyone, and applied in constantly changing contexts of time and place.
The Mandela Day campaign was inaugurated as a vehicle to achieve this. Its objective is to inspire individuals to take action to help change the world for the better, and in doing so, to build a global movement for good. Ultimately, it seeks to empower communities everywhere.
Individuals and organisations are free to participate in making every day a Mandela Day. We do, however, urge them to find inspiration for their contribution in the legacy of Nelson Mandela and to adhere to the ethical framework of "service to one’s fellow humans" every day.
Visit Mandela Day website
