The University of Guyana Library will host a Colloquium on the Development of the Digital Archive of Guyanese and Caribbean Festivals, Literature and Culture on March 27 and 28, 2024 from 10:00 hrs daily. The Colloquium will be held at the university’s Education Lecture Theatre on the Turkeyen Campus and is open free to the general public.
UG’s Caribbean Research Library houses specialised paper-based and multimedia collections from the Guianas, the Caribbean, and the Caribbean diaspora. They include the Union of Culture Clubs, Norman Cameron, J. B. Singh, A. J. Seymour, Legal Deposit, and Guyana Prize for Literature collections.
The objectives for Day 1 are: (a) to introduce a spectrum of archives in Guyana containing materials related to Guyanese festivals, literature, and culture and (b) to explore expectations for the Digital Archive of Guyanese and Caribbean Festivals, Literature, and Culture. Day 2 will address the lessons learned from regional and international experiences in developing digital archives and will consider strategies for moving forward.
UG’s faculty and staff, along with Dr. Vibert Cambridge, A.A., Professor Emeritus, School of Media Arts and Studies, Ohio University, and Dr. Adrienne Rooney, Postdoctoral Fellow, Frederick Douglas Institute and Department of Black Studies, University of Rochester, will serve as facilitators.
Dr. Vibert Cambridge and Dr. Adrienne Rooney, along with Dr. Ramaesh J. Bhagirat-Rivera, Assistant Professor of Critical Mixed Race Studies, Department of Asian and Asian American Studies, Binghamton University, organised and facilitated the international symposium to mark the 50th anniversary of the inaugural Caribbean Festival of Arts in August 2022.
University of Guyana Librarian, Mrs. Gwyneth George said: “The University is extremely delighted to host the Colloquium, as it will give prominence to the very topical issue of digitisation and digital libraries and information centres that is trending in today’s world due to the impact of the application of modern information technology. It will also provide a much-needed database for retrieving, preserving, and disseminating materials representative of these defining aspects of Guyanese and Caribbean heritage, creativity, aspiration, and innovation.”
Since the conclusion of the three-day international symposium The Inaugural Caribbean Festival of Arts as Prism: 20th Century Festivals in the Multilingual Caribbean in August 2022, the UG Library, along with the symposium organisers, has concluded Phase I in “building” the digital archive. They have created a dedicated space for professional-grade equipment that will make possible the digitisation of the Carifesta materials held by UG and materials anticipated from the public. Phase I also included crowd-sourcing related materials and gaining opportunities for UG Library staff to acquire the competencies needed for digital archiving. The training was completed.
The Colloquium will launch the second phase in the development of the digital archive. Public participation is expected to provide actionable insights to guide Phase II of the development of the Digital Archive of Guyanese and Caribbean Festivals, Literature, and Culture.
University staff and students, as well as members of the public, are invited to visit https://www.carifestaat50.com to learn more about The Inaugural Caribbean Festival of Arts as Prism: 20th Century Festivals in the Multilingual Caribbean held August 5–7, 2022. This website was created as a precursor to the digital archive. It is continually populated with materials on Carifesta and the arts.
