The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia
Library
Library Home / About Us / 2012 / May / 15 / Preserving cultural heritage

About Us

News Contacts

Michelle Blackwell
Director, Communications & Marketing
UBC Library
Tel: 604 827 4831
Cell: 647 688 3856
michelle.blackwell(at)ubc.ca

Anna Moorhouse
Communications & Marketing Manager
UBC Library
anna.moorhouse(at)ubc.ca

Preserving cultural heritage

By Jessica Woolman on May 15, 2012

Image of Dustin Rivers

Dustin Rivers is helping digitize First Nations oral histories.

An innovative UBC Library project is helping preserve First Nations history and culture for the digital age.

The project, dubbed Indigitization, is a collaboration between various UBC units, including the Library’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, the First Nations House of Learning, the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) and the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies. The First Nations Technology Council and three First Nations communities in B.C.— Heiltsuk, Ktunaxa and ‘Namgis — are also partners in the endeavor.

quote of Dustin RiversOne of the project’s key goals is the development of an online “toolkit” for the digitization of First Nations cultural materials, which should be available by May.

The kit is a how-to resource, with equipment and software available for lending to participating communities.

“We have been developing a portable digitization system for First Nations communities. This system will assist them in preserving and digitizing their own valuable oral histories and language recordings,” says Dustin Rivers, an intern at MOA involved with the Indigitization project. “These recordings carry valuable information and histories about our ancestors. Through digitization they can be preserved and accessed by researchers and community members for generations to come.”

“By supporting First Nations communities, we are safeguarding future generations’ access to valuable community information,” adds Mimi Lam, a Digital Projects Librarian based at the Learning Centre.

Thanks to the toolkit, the Ktunaxa Archives was able to digitize an 1894 dictionary of the Kootenay language. “The original manuscript and printed copies had been lost to time and fire,” explains Margaret Teneese, Ktunaxa Archivist. The project, however, allowed Teneese to digitize six reels of microfilm dealing with language records — and amazingly, one of those contained an English translation of the dictionary, a discovery that Teneese calls “an incredible treasure.” 

This story first appeared in UBC Library’s Community Report (2012).

Posted in General | Tagged with collections, Community Report, digitization, Indigitization, preservation, strategic plan

  • Previous
  • Next

Search News

,
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility