The Information Professional
91
Librarians and Archivists in a fast-changing digital lanscape
Curated by Karen du Toit
Follow
Your new post is loading...
Scooped by Karen du Toit
Scoop.it!

How Timbuktu's heritage was saved in rice sacks and canoes - The National

How Timbuktu's heritage was saved in rice sacks and canoes - The National | The Information Professional | Scoop.it
From www.thenational.ae - February 22, 1:55 AM

Alice Fordham:

How Timbuktu's heritage was saved in rice sacks and canoes The National Before the militants worked out to look in an older building for the remaining 28,000 manuscripts, said Abdoulaye Cisse, the acting director of the institute, he and the other rchivists and employees quietly began to smuggle them out of the city. They piled centuries-old investigations of law and geography, the volumes known in Arabic as the Histories of the Sudan, and Islamic scholarship, into rice sacks.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/africa/how-timbuktu-s-heritage-was-saved-in-rice-sacks-and-canoes#ixzz2LbmlmRZ7 ;
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook

Karen du Toit's insight:

The saving of Timbuktu's archives in Mali!

No comment yet.
Sign up to comment
Delete the scoop?

Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?

Yes No
Scooped by Karen du Toit
Scoop.it!

Timbuktu mayor: Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts

Timbuktu mayor: Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts | The Information Professional | Scoop.it
From www.guardian.co.uk - January 29, 2:59 AM

Islamist insurgents retreating from Timbuktu set fire to a library containing thousands of priceless historic manuscripts, according to the Saharan town's mayor, in an incident he described as a "devastating blow" to world heritage.

Hallé Ousmani Cissé told the Guardian that al-Qaida-allied fighters on Saturday torched two buildings that held the manuscripts, some of which dated back to the 13th century. They also burned down the town hall, the governor's office and an MP's residence, and shot dead a man who was celebrating the arrival of the French military.

 

The manuscripts were held in two separate locations: an ageing library and a new South African-funded research centre, the Ahmad Babu Institute, less than a mile away. Completed in 2009 and named after a 17th-century Timbuktu scholar, the centre used state-of-the-art techniques to study and conserve the crumbling scrolls.

Both buildings were burned down, according to the mayor, who said the information came from an informer who had just left the town. Asked whether any of the manuscripts might have survived, Cissé replied: "I don't know."

Karen du Toit's insight:

Terrible news! Hope they would be able to recover some!

No comment yet.
Sign up to comment
Delete the scoop?

Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?

Yes No
Scooped by Karen du Toit
Scoop.it!

Villagers record their own memories on online archive - This is Somerset

Villagers record their own memories on online archive - This is Somerset | The Information Professional | Scoop.it
From www.thisissomerset.co.uk - November 30, 2012 7:22 AM
This is Somerset
Villagers record their own memories on online archive
Volunteers from the Quest project and Bath Spa University's history department have been carrying out the "people's survey" encouraging people to share a special person, place, building or object for the archive."
Karen du Toit's insight:

Great idea to enhance the content of an archive!

No comment yet.
Sign up to comment
Delete the scoop?

Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?

Yes No
Scooped by Karen du Toit
Scoop.it!

UNESCO World Day for AudioVisual Heritage | International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives

UNESCO World Day for AudioVisual Heritage | International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives | The Information Professional | Scoop.it
From www.iasa-web.org - November 1, 2011 5:31 AM

UNESCO declared October 27 as the World Day for AV Heritage to raise awareness of the significance of AV documents and to draw attention to the need to safeguard them. Every year, activities are organized by different institutions worldwide around a theme to drum up interest in the event.

See here for a message from Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO.

The main World Day for AV Heritage Site lists many 2011 events worldwide:
http://www.pia.gov.ph/wdavh2011/

 

This page lists some of the events being organised by IASA members to mark the day in 2011.

No comment yet.
Sign up to comment
Delete the scoop?

Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?

Yes No
Scooped by Karen du Toit
Scoop.it!

ONLINE EXHIBITION - Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu, Library of Congress

ONLINE EXHIBITION - Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu, Library of Congress | The Information Professional | Scoop.it
From www.loc.gov - January 29, 3:13 AM

...Timbuktu's most famous and long-lasting contribution to Islamic and world civilization is the scholarship practiced there. By at least the fourteenth century, important books were written and copied there, establishing the city as the center of a significant written tradition in Africa.

These ancient manuscripts cover every aspect of human endeavor. The manuscripts are indicative of the high level of civilization attained by West Africans during the Middle Ages and provide irrefutable proof of a powerful African literary tradition. Scholars in the fields of Islamic Studies and African Studies believe that analysis of these texts will cause Islamic, West African, and World History to be reevaluated. These manuscripts, surviving from as long ago as the fourteenth century, are remarkable artifacts important to Malian and West African culture. The exhibited manuscripts date from the sixteenth to eighteenth century.

The manuscripts on view are from the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library and the Library of Cheick Zayni Baye of Boujbeha, two of the most noteworthy institutions in the Timbuktu area. As part of its continuing effort to create a universal collection of recorded knowledge from all geographic areas and all historical eras, the Library of Congress is particularly proud to have the opportunity to exhibit these important cultural artifacts from Mali. The Library is also pleased that copies of these manuscripts will be deposited in its collections and will be available for use by researchers and scholars.

Karen du Toit's insight:

Not sure if these manuscripts also included in those being burned and looted (?), but an indication of the magnificence of these collections!

No comment yet.
Sign up to comment
Delete the scoop?

Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?

Yes No
Scooped by Karen du Toit
Scoop.it!

Preserving analog films and music at the Library of Congress - The Verge

Preserving analog films and music at the Library of Congress - The Verge | The Information Professional | Scoop.it
From www.theverge.com - January 16, 4:46 AM

Preserving analog films and music at the Library of Congress
The Verge
Libraries preserve and circulate more than just books, and the Library of Congress is no exception.

Glenn Fleishman tours the facility.

Video here: http://www.loc.gov/avconservation/packard/

Karen du Toit's insight:

Audio-visual conservation at the LC

No comment yet.
Sign up to comment
Delete the scoop?

Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?

Yes No
Scooped by Karen du Toit
Scoop.it!

SABC Media Libraries: Springbok Radio handover to SABC

SABC Media Libraries: Springbok Radio handover to SABC | The Information Professional | Scoop.it
From sabcmedialib.blogspot.fr - May 9, 2012 6:06 AM

Photo by Peter Jaquire.

 

The Springbok Radio Preservation Society handed back their collection of archive material of Springbok Radio which was on the airwaves from 1950 - 1985 in South Africa.

During those days there was no archive, and the material would have been lost, if it had not been for efforts by people to preserve and collect that material.

Frans Erasmus has been instrumental in the Springbok Radio Preservation Society, and streamed a weekly update of material on the Internet.

The material is back in the SABC Radio Archives at the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

 

Links:

Media release: http://sabcmedialib.blogspot.com/2012/05/hand-over-of-springbok-radio-archive.html

 

About Frans Erasmus: http://sabcmedialib.blogspot.com/2012/05/hand-over-of-springbok-radio-archive.html

 

 

Picasa Slideshow of the handover function: http://sabcmedialib.blogspot.com/2012/05/picasa-slideshow-of-springbok-radio.html

 

 

Springbok Radio website: http://www.sabc.co.za/springbokRadio/index.html

 

No comment yet.
Sign up to comment
Delete the scoop?

Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?

Yes No
Scooped by Karen du Toit
Scoop.it!

Special Site for 2011 World Day for Audio-Visual Heritage

Special Site for 2011 World Day for Audio-Visual Heritage | The Information Professional | Scoop.it
From www.pia.gov.ph - October 26, 2011 5:04 PM
World Heritage Audio Visual Day, AV Day, Heritage...

 

"The theme for this year's celebration of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2011 is "Audivisual Heritage: See, Hear, and Learn."

 

Sound recordings and moving images are extremely vulnerable as they can be quickly and deliberately destroyed. Essentially emblematic of the 20th century, audiovisual heritage can be irretrievably lost as a result of neglect, natural decay and technological obsolescence. Public consciousness of the importance of preservation of these recordings must be engaged and the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is intended to be the platform for building global awareness."

No comment yet.
Sign up to comment
Delete the scoop?

Are you sure you want to delete this scoop?

Yes No
About Media Follow us How it Works Legal Mobile Developers
Facebook
Twitter
Google +
LinkedIn