Culture Ministry to digitize national archives
The Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport is now moving towards making all information available in the national archives become technologically accessible. This was revealed during a launching ceremony held at the Walter Rodney Archives on Wednesday last. These documents will be digitised and microfilmed.
Robin Singh of DEV Info-Tech Simplified has been contracted by the Ministry to put the project together.
During the launch, Culture Minister Dr. Frank Anthony, and Permanent Secretary, Alfred King, were given a demonstration of how the online programme will work.
Robin Singh (centre) demonstrates to Minister Anthony, and Permanent Secretary Alfred King, how the programme will work.
And because the occasion of Indian Arrival was recently celebrated, the project will start off with information on Indian Indentured Labourers.
The Ministry, along with staffers of the National Archives, is hoping that the database project will put less strain on the already fragile records. Some of these hardcopy records have deteriorated over the years, despite being housed in suitable conditions. But, with the digital version, the information can be easily stored and put on back up files. It can also be easily duplicated.
The employees of the National Archives anticipate that this move will assist with the space constraints for storage of these records. This project is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Kaieteur News understands that the project which is being done in phases is being funded by UNESCO.
This project is also being done to assist historians in their work, especially in the case of old newspapers.
It will include the National Archives, the Daily Chronicle from 1819 to current (while it carried the same name it was not the same newspaper for the whole of that period) along with the Evening Post 1958-1973, the Daily Argosy 1880-1889, Royal Gazette 1816-1889, The Creole 1856-1882, The Colonist 1851-1883 and the Guyana Graphic 1946-1970.
The National Archives, which falls under the Culture Ministry, also houses many government records.
While the national archive is somewhat like a library, it is mostly used by professional researchers, and those seeking to find information on their ancestors, particularly the Indian Immigrants.
