Local Preservation of a Global Heritage, International Co-operation and the Digitization of Written and Non-Written Material at the University of Ghana, Legon

Abstract

Since the 16th century Africa and in particular today’s Ghana has with an ever increasing speed become entrenched into a global network of intellectual, commercial and technological exchange, whose ambivalent nature also reflects in the very state and nature of the documents, that this history of incorporation has left behind. In this joint presentation an Archivist and Systems Librarian from the University of Ghana will share their experiences during the digitized of historical material with a special emphasis on the amount, prospects and challenges of international co-operation that has been involved in its preservation. While the digitization of rare and hitherto unavailable documents on Dutch economic activities in the Gold Coast is executed by both the Balme Library and the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) with partial funding from the Dutch Embassy; a precious post- and pre-independence collection of traditional music by J. H. Kwabena Nketia who taught as the first major African Musicologist in USA is currently been digitized in a joint effort of Ghanaian and American teams from Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana and New York University’s Audiovisual Preservation Exchange (APEX) under Making African Academic Resources Accessible or MAARA project. The different nature of these historical sources (written and paper-based vs. audiovisual media) finally adds yet another comparative dimension to this lecture: In spite of various overarching similarities each of these collections touches upon the important issue of international cooperation and accessibility of the preserved material in its own peculiar way.