Language(s) of presentations:
Abstract:
By sharing experiences gained from successful digitization projects in St. Lucia and Swaziland, this session wants to devote attention to the practicalities and challenges faced by small island states in embarking on digitization projects, and will provide strategies and pointers in how to overcome the usual constraints that archivists in small and or island states have to contend with.
Target audience:
Archivists facing challenges in the implementation of digitization; particularly, archivists in small and/or island countries who often need to overcome similar hurdles in order to digitize their collections.
Overall purpose and significance of session:
The purpose of this session is to share experiences in order to motivate small and/or island countries to embark on digitization projects and to share strategies on how to make successful digitization projects in such circumstances.
Content description:
The first paper by Margot THOMAS of Saint Lucia will discuss how various organizations in Saint Lucia have come together to digitize their vital collections with the help of UNESCO and the results of this co-operation. The second paper Sibongile NXUMALO of the National Archives of Swaziland will present its experiences in digitization and detail how the plan was realized.
I wish to extend a warm invitation to all archivists and information professionals to the 16th ICA Congress in Kuala Lumpur from 21- 27 July 2008.