Valuable oral histories, traditions and culture from two B.C. Aboriginal communities will be preserved, thanks to the Aboriginal Audio Digitization and Preservation Program (AADPP).

This pilot initiative, led by UBC Library’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, provides grants for B.C. Aboriginal organizations to convert audio cassette tapes to digital formats for preservation and access. Current plans are to offer equipment, training and funding support for up to six projects per year, with applications accepted twice a year.
Tsawwassen First Nation and the Upper St’át’imc Language, Culture, and Education Society are the inaugural AADPP recipients. Both of their projects are planned for completion in 2014.

Tsawwassen First Nation, located in the Lower Mainland, plans to digitize 165 analogue cassettes that contain interviews with many of the community’s Elders. This will enable the community to access Elder teachings in a more accessible medium, and build skills among administrative staff and within the community.

The Upper St’át’imc Language, Culture, and Education Society, based in Lillooet, aims to digitize 133 audio interviews undertaken since 1991 with speakers, storytellers and those willing to share their cultural knowledge. The aim is to ensure the long-term preservation and accessibility of these culturally significant materials.

The Aboriginal Audio Digitization and Preservation Program is a collaborative project between the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, the First Nations Technology Council and UBC’s Museum of Anthropology. Other contributors include the First Nations communities of Heiltsuk, Ktunaxa and ‘Namgis, UBC’s School for Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS) and the First Nations House of Learning (FNHL), also at UBC.

The AADPP is a part of the Indigitization Program, which focuses on the conservation and preservation of Indigenous community information resources.

For more information, please contact:

Sarah Dupont,
Program Coordinator and Aboriginal Engagement Librarian
Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
1961 East Mall
Vancouver BC V6T 1Z1 Canada
sarah.dupont@ubc.ca
604.822.0480

Gordon Yusko,
Assistant Director, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
1961 East Mall
Vancouver BC V6T 1Z1 Canada
gordon.yusko@ubc.ca
604.822.2298