Name
Digitization, Reparative Description and Enhanced Access to Indigenous Records: We Are Here: Sharing Stories Project
Date & Time
Wednesday, July 17, 2024, 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM
IDEAL Locations
Sheraton C
Session Type
General
Description

Our Indigenous team will present on lessons learned from the We Are Here Sharing Stories project, which is a digitization initiative to provide access to records containing significant Indigenous cultural heritage and language material. The mandate of the project is to digitize 450,000 images by August 2024, from archival and published material including: journals, maps, newspapers, artwork, photographs, and publications. We hope that this work will aid communities in their language and cultural revitalization efforts, legal claims, and other needs by increasing access. Due to the legacy of colonial archival practices, Indigenous collections have been under processed creating gaps in identification and description making it difficult for communities to access these records. The main part of the project’s work is to develop tools to provide access to collections, such as the development of culturally sensitive description using up-to-date terminology to increase accessibility of records for communities, while maintaining historical captions. We further discussions regarding descriptive standards, policies regarding cultural sensitivity, appropriate access, and the development of relationships with communities from our unique cultural perspectives as Indigenous peoples with lived experience. The goal of the project is to center Indigenous values, language and knowledge systems in a continued shift towards reconciliation by redefining and restructuring archival practices.

Track
Collections
Keywords
Indigenous, Reparative Description, Digitization, Reconciliation, Access
Resources