Sask Digital News

SWE Highlight: Lionel Budge Letters

2011-07-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

Recently added to the Saskatchewan War Experience project are these letters from Lionel Budge, written while serving in Mossbank, Saskatchewan.

The full collection of letters spans 1939 to 1947. Letters that have been uploaded were written in 1942, while Lionel Budge was working as a mechanic at the Mossbank air training school in Saskatchewan.

Lionel wrights of his duties, the cost of living in each of the towns he is in, and of the friends he has made during his employment.

SWE Highlight: SGGA Roll of Honour

2011-07-13T10:29:00.001-07:00

Recently added to the Saskatchewan War Experience is this Roll of Honour poster published by the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association around 1918.

The poster is illustrated with detailed prints and the names are arranged by location.

SWE Highlight: Edmund Oliver Papers

2011-07-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

This letter and postcard come from a collection of letters from the University of Saskatchewan Archives "Oliver Papers" fond. Dr. Edmund H. Oliver was a History and Economics professor at the University of Saskatchewan. During WWI he was Chaplain of the 196th Battalion and in 1917 launched the University of Vimy Ridge, a university for soldiers during the war. The University of Vimy Ridge focused on vocational training that would help soldiers get a job upon their return home.

Dr. Edmund H. Oliver wrote to his wife Rita and his boys every day while he was away. This postcard, sent from France, depicts the prospective victory only a few months away. The Letter displayed here is one written after he was learned of the end of the war. Dr. Oliver often talks about the topic of his sermons for the week, current events of the war, his desire to be back home, and his desire to be closer to the men in the trenches.

SWE Highlight: New War Narratives

2011-06-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

Two new war narratives have been added to the Saskatchewan War Experience home page.

"Seared In My Memory" is the account of Jessie Bernie's experience as a prisoner of war in Hong Kong, told by Norm Park, a journalist from Saskatchewan.

"The Silent Observer" is the self-authored story of David Acaster's experience of WWII.

Saskatchewan’s Visual Arts: Call for Participation

2011-06-08T12:51:00.000-07:00

The University of Regina Archives and Special Collections is leading a digital exhibition project funded by the Ministry of Education, Provincial Library and Literacy Office in conjunction with a grant from the Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists. The project will enable many institutions to contribute content to a single digital collection managed through the University of Regina Library’s ContentDM application.

The theme for the project is Saskatchewan’s Visual Arts: Post 1950. This theme looks at artists that have raised the profile of visual arts within Saskatchewan, following the creation of the Saskatchewan Arts Board in 1948. The Arts Board’s mandate to provide financial support to artists encouraged a new level of artistic growth within Saskatchewan and made way for some of the province’s most noteworthy and memorable artists.

Materials from permanent collections are eligible for digitization. This includes material in any format (photos, slides, sketchbooks, published material, sound, film, documents and memorabilia) as they relate to Saskatchewan’s Visual Arts: Post 1950. Participating institutions will be asked to digitize their contribution(s) or request technical support from the University of Regina Archives. Contributors should also provide accompanying metadata and contextual information for inclusion in the ContentDM database.

The goal of this project is to produce an online archival exhibit that will document Saskatchewan’s rich contribution to the visual arts and promote access to archival, library, museum, and gallery materials.

Content from participating institutions must be copyright-cleared and participants must be willing to make digitized content freely available on the internet.

Institutions willing to participate should contact Mark Vajcner (mark.vajcner@uregina.ca) before 17 June 2011. It is anticipated that the bulk of the scanning and description work will occur in July and August 2011.

Large and small contributions are welcome!

SWE Highlight: Community Meets Veteran

2011-06-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

"Community Meets Veteran," published in 1945, is a recent addition to the Saskatchewan War Experience from the Saskatchewan Legislative Library.

The pamphlet discusses the needs of veterans upon their return home. The importance of a place in the community is emphasized, whether that means a job that the returned soldier can feel passionate about, or a way to address the issues that experience in war has made important.

The various forms of government funding and assistance to veterans are explained, and recommended readings and films about the returned soldier are listed.

Ben Neudorf
Technical Coordinator

SWE Highlight: Roll Call: The Voice of the Veteran

2011-06-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

These magazines, entitled "Roll Call: The Voice of the Veteran," have just been added to the Saskatchewan War Experience.

Each issue contains "Army and Navy News," "Army Sports Review," along with various articles and business ads, many of which are veteran-owned.

This issue also contains an article entitled "The Philosophy of Rehabilitation," and advice about where to go for rehabilitation services.

Benjamin Neudorf
Technical Coordinator

SWE Highlight: Tiger Moths

2011-05-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

New videos have been uploaded, courtesy of the Prince Albert Historical Society. The photo here is taken from a video of tiger moth planes training at the Prince Albert Airport.

Other videos uploaded from the Prince Albert Historical Society include Operation Eskimo, footage of children collecting rubber for the war effort, and a military parade in Prince Albert.

Ben Neudorf
Technical Coordinator
Saskatchewan War Experience

SWE Highlight: A History of the 28th (Northwest) Battalion

2011-05-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hello, the most recent addition to the Saskatchewan War Experience is a comprehensive history of the 28th Battalion, compiled and edited by Major D.G. Scott Calder, and published by the Regina Rifle Regiment.

The "Ross Narrative," from Brigadier-General Alexander Ross, and "The Official War Diary" are the two main sources for the history, though others, including the Momoirs of Lt. Col.J.F.L.Embury, are also included.

At 365 pages, including maps and illustrations, it is a detailed history, beginning with recruitment.

Benjamin Neudorf, Technical Coordinator.

SWE Highlight - C28 Its Record of Service

2011-05-09T12:41:00.001-07:00

Hello, my name is Ben Neudorf. I am the new Technical Coordinator for the Saskatchewan Digital Alliance's Saskatchewan War Experience project.

One of the most recent additions to the SWE project is this "C28: Its record of Service" pamphlet from the University of Saskatchewan Special Collections "Canadiana Pamphlets" collection. It contains a brief history of the 28th battalion, commanded by Brigadier-General J . F. L. Embury, and its service in World War I.

Here is an excerpt from the history:
"On the night of september 25, the 28th Battalion first went into the trenches in France. The battle of Loos, which opened on September 26, 1915, marked the advent of the 2nd Canadian Division on the Western front. . .
The 28th carried out it first important raid on the last night in January, 1916. It was a brilliant operation, and the raid was led by Captain D. E. McIntyre, now Lieut. -Colonel McIntyre, D.S.O., officer commanding the unit. In the trench warfare in the early months of 1916 the marksmen of the 28th established a record which was a tradition with the brigade and division" (p6-7).

If you are interested in the 28th Battalion, and Saskatchewan's contributions to World War I, I will be working on a more extensive history of the 28th Northwest Battalion, compiled and edited by Major D.G. Scott Calder, over the next couple of days.

Ben Neudorf, Technical Coordinator

New Technical Coordinator!

2011-04-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, everybody, I've had a blast working on the Saskatchewan War Experience with all the awesome participants that have submitted so much fascinating material, but now it is time for a new Technical Coordinator to take over! Ben Neudorf, an English major just wrapping up his third year at the University of Saskatchewan, is now the Coordinator for the project. He's very tech-savvy and is sure to do a great job.

Cheers!
Catherine Nygren, former Technical Coordinator

SWE Highlight - Women's Military Unit

2011-03-11T14:06:00.000-08:00

This photograph depicts a women's military unit marching in the Torch Day Parade in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Torch Day Parade, which took place on May 29, 1941, was part of the drive for the First Victory Loan.

The photograph of the Women's Military Unit marching in the Torch Day Parade was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the City of Regina Archives.

SWE Highlight - Conditions of competition for the selection of an architect for the proposed War Memorial Museum at Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

2011-03-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

In 1919 the Government of Saskatchewan promoted a competition for the design of a building to serve as a memorial to the soldiers of Saskatchewan who fell in the Great War, or World War I. The building would have also contained war trophies and records of the province. In the end, however, the War Memorial Museum was never developed.

If developed, the War Memorial Museum would have been situated to the south-west of the existing Parliament Buildings. The style of the building, while left to the discretion of the competitors, should have harmonized with the Parliament Building. The plans for the competition provides a deeper look into how the Saskatchewan Government treated veterans and planned future memorial projects.

The Conditions of Competition for the Selection of an Architect for the Proposed War Memorial Museum at Regina, Saskatchewan, was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the Saskatchewan Legislative Library.

SWE Highlight - Operation Eskimo

2011-03-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

In January and February 1945 Operation or 'Exercise' "Eskimo" was held in northern Saskatchewan in order to test the effect of a continental, sub-Arctic winter on the mobility and combat efficiency of all-arms striking forces.

This short video clip shows troops involved in Exercise Eskimo coming off the Prince Albert railway bridge, likely south on 1st Ave West, then parading North on Central, past the inspecting group off camera on the steps of the old City Hall, now the Arts Centre.

For more information on Exercise Eskimo, visit Recapturing the North: Exercises "Eskimo," Po lar Bear" and "Lemming," 1945.

Operation Eskimo was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the Prince Albert Historical Society.

SWE Highlight - Remembering World War II with Captain Jack Kemp

2011-02-28T17:06:00.000-08:00

Captain Jack Kemp was born on 1913 in Halkhurst in Kent, England. He emigrated to Canada soon after turning 16, and joined the Army in July 1940.

In the interview, Kemp recounts his enlistment, training, posting in England, preparations for the assault on Dieppe, receiving regimental colours from King George VI, V1 "buzz bombs," landing in Normandy, being shot by a sniper in Falaise, France, repatriation to Canada, and life in post-war Lloydminster.

Captain Kemp recalls what it was like be to shot by a sniper:

I ran across the road to look to se which would be the . . . you know, whether we could actually go up this road at all or whether you'd have to clamber over all the stuff. And then suddenly, and then something made me shake my head like that and I could only see about this width and I thought well somebody's hit me and then I guess I fell over and then the nex thing I knew I opened my eyes and Sergeant Major was trying to get this book out of the big pocket on my battle dress. And anyway, they . . . what happened was, over in teh castle, you know, the castle had round towers, with long slits in it, about that wide . . . He was in this castle. (page 20)

Capt. Jack Kemp recounts experiences in WWII was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the Lloydminster Regional Archives.

SWE Highlight - The Saskatchewan Gazette 1914

2011-02-25T13:17:00.000-08:00

This issue of The Saskatchewan Gazette contains important communications regarding the outbreak of World War I. It includes the Declaration of War between the British Empire and Germany. At the time, Canada was still heavily influenced by Britain's decisions; therefore, the citizens of Canada and Saskatchewan found themselves at war as well.

The issue is Volume X, No. 15, and was issued on August 15, 1914, only 11 days after Britain formally declared war on Germany.

The Saskatchewan Gazette, 1914, was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the Saskatchewan Queen's Printer, Ministry of Justice and Attorney General.

SWE Highlight - War Diary of the 67th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery in WWII

2011-02-22T10:28:00.000-08:00

The War Diary of the 67th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery follows the path of the recruits of the Battery from recruitment in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1941, through training in Patawawa, Ontario, Canada, and numerous other locations, with the diary ending while the recruits are undergoing training in Portslade, Sussex, England, through 1943.

An excerpt reads:

"July 1st, 1941, Rosetown, Saskatchewan: Recruiting for the Battery continued with the 30CWT. army truck and loud-speaker equipment, making tours of the area on an itinery designed to include as many of the community sports' days as possible."

However, while the recruitment efforts may have been initially successful, some recruits decided to leave the military. Consider this excerpt from November 11, 1941, while the recruits were on board a train heading to the east coast, from where they would travel to England:

"One man was lost from the train, it is beleived at CAMBLETON, he was struck off strenght at HALIFAX. Another man from the 57th Battery tried to escape at SACKVILLE, but was unsuccessful."

The War Diary of the 67th Anti-Aircraft Battery was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the Rosetown Centennial Library Archive.

SWE Highlight - Campion College Library Yearbook, WWII

2011-02-22T08:23:00.000-08:00

The war-related excerpts from this yearbook provide a glimpse into the lives of young men during World War II. It includes a list of Campion College casualties from World War II, a list of Campion College students enlisted in the Armed Forces, photos of some of the students involved in the war efforts, the annual report of Campion College Air Cadets with a roster and photos of the Cadets and various activities. A photo of the Campion College C.O.T.C. is also included.

Campion College is a university college federated with the University of Regina, and is located on the University of Regina's main campus.

The Campion College Yearbook, 1945, was submitted to the Saskatchewan War Experience by the Campion College Library.

SWE Highlight - Memorial Tree certificate for William Douglas Aird

2011-02-10T12:10:00.001-08:00

City of Saskatoon certificate No. 130 "to certify that a memorial tree was planted by Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Aird (parents) in honour of Lieut. William Douglas Aird, 10th Can. Machine Gun Batt. who enlisted at Saskatoon, Sask. Sept. 22, 1915. Killed Oct. 26, 1917, age 20 years, at Passchendaele." Signed by Mayor Howard McConnell and City Clerk Mourdant Tomlinson.
The caption reads: "Let Those Who Come After See to It That this Name Be Not Forgotten."

This memorial tree certificate was issued ca. 1922. The tree was most likely located along Saskatoon's Memorial Avenue in Woodlawn Cemetary, a path lined by trees leading to a memorial for dead of World War I.

The Memorial Tree certificate for William Douglas Aird is part of the Document Collection at the Saskatoon Public Library, Local History Room. See more artifacts online at the Saskatchewan War Experience.

SWE Highlight - Letter from son to mother, WWI

2011-01-31T15:35:00.000-08:00

On November 21, 1916, Dave Ross was in the Canadian Convalescent Hospital at Bearwood, Dokingham Berkshire in England, suffering from a knee injury. He wrote this letter to his mother in Chesley, Ontario.

In the letter, Dave recounts his memories of his

mother's old stove. His remembrances, however, quickly develop into reflectons about family life and what is worth while in life. As the letter progresses, he reveals his deep love of and gratitude to his parents.

An excerpt:

"I learned more of you when you said, "Dave, I've been expecting this for some time" than I knew before. I'm an awful coward and hate danger and lice and mud but I'm your soldier and if I could do the work of twenty I would not be half worthy of you."

Dave ends the letter with an amusing description of his hospital clothes, and noting that, while he will not make it

to France this year, his knee is nearly all right and he'll probably leave the hospital by the weekend.

The Letter from Dave Ross to his mother is part of the Connell Collection at the Regina Plains Museum. The entire document is located online at the Saskatchewan War Experience.

SWE Highlight - Memorial to the Footballers Who Fell in the Great World War

2010-11-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

One of the intriguing items in the Saskatchewan War Experience is a program describing the unveiling of a Memorial dedicated to the football players who fell in World War I. The unveiling and dedication of the Memorial took place on 8th June, 1921, and included various songs and hymns, an address by the Mayor, and a Roll of the Fallen. The memorial consists of a 6 foot marble statue carved in Naples, Italy, set upon a 12 foot polished granite base, with the names of the 75 soccer players who lost their lives the Great War engraved around the bottom.

The Memorial was later named for Saskatoon footballer Hugh Cairns, a member of the 46th Battalion, Saskatchewan Regiment, who won the Victoria Cross and died just a few days before the end of the War.

Today, the Hugh Cairns Memorial is believed to be the only war memorial in the world dedicated to the players of football. It is located in Kiwanis Park in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

The Memorial to the Footballers Who Fell in the Great World War, 1914-1918, was submitted to the project by the University of Saskatchewan Special Collections.

SDA September Meeting

2010-10-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

The Saskatchewan Digital Alliance welcomed Catherine Nygren as the 2010-11 Project Coordinator for The Saskatchewan War Experience digitization project. Catherine is a 3rd year English major at the University of Saskatchewan with excellent technical skills.

The SILS Consortium has purchased the digital collection building software, Content Pro. The SDA is interested in discussing ways to cooperate with SILS on digitization and hopes to begin a dialogue in the coming months.

There was a brief discussion about the BC Books Online project. The Multitype Library Board is investigating the potential for a similar project in Saskatchewan and will look to the SDA and the Multitype Database Licensing Program for advice in the planning of such a project.

The SDA’s website www.saskdigital.ca has been revised with regular updates to follow. The homepage provides access to The Saskatchewan War Experience collection.

The SDA is about to embark on an environmental scan and plans to hold a strategic planning session this winter.

Digital Music Library System

2009-02-20T12:06:00.000-08:00

Hey folks,

This is a re-post from a list I subscribe to. It sounds like a great solution for those of you who may be interested in digital music libraries...

Indiana University today announces the release of open source software to
create a digital music library system. The software, called Variations, provides
online access to streaming audio and scanned score images in support of
teaching, learning, and research.

Variations enables institutions such as college and university libraries and music schools to digitize audio and score materials from their own collections, provide those materials to their students and faculty in an interactive online environment, and respect intellectual property rights.

A key feature of the system for faculty and students is the ability to create bookmarks and playlists for use in studying or in preparing classroom presentations, allowing easy access later on to specific audio time points or segments. A key feature for libraries is a flexible access control and authentication system, which allows libraries to set up access rules based on their own local institutional policies.

This software is the culmination of nearly fifteen years of development and use of
digital music library systems at Indiana University. Creation of the current Variations software platform was originally funded by the National Science
Foundation. In 2005, the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded
Indiana University a National Leadership Grant to extend this highly successful
system to the nationwide library community. Beyond IU, the software is currently
being used at the Ohio State University, University of Maryland, New England
Conservatory of Music, and the Philadelphia area Tri-College Consortium
(Haverford, Swarthmore, and Bryn Mawr).

This open source release of Variations complements IU’s earlier release of the open source Variations Audio Timeliner, which lets users identify relationships in passages of music, annotate their findings, and play back the results with simple point-and-click navigation. This tool is also included as a feature of the complete Variations
system.

Indiana University plans to offer a free one-hour Variations webinar at 4:00 PM EST on March 4, 2009 for institutions and individuals interested in learning more about the system. To register, e-mail mnotess@indiana.edu.

The Indiana University Digital Library Program created Variations in collaboration with faculty and students in IU’s Jacobs School of Music. The IU Digital Library Program is a collaborative effort of the Indiana University Libraries and the Indiana University Office of the Vice President for Information Technology.

For more information on the Variations open source release, see: http://variations.sourceforge.net/

-----
Jon Dunn
Associate Director for Technology
Indiana
University Digital Library Program
IU Libraries / University Information
Technology Services
jwd@indiana.edu
(812) 855-0953

2009-01-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

This is a reposting from David Lowe and Michael J. Bennett at UConn Libraries. The results of their survey on JPEG 2000 are now available...

First, thanks very much to those who responded this past fall to our survey of digital project staff regarding JPEG 2000 implementation at your institutions. We have made the results available via our institutional repository at:

http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/libr_pubs/16/

You may choose to download the survey results as a standalone .xls spreadsheet file or, if you prefer a somewhat smoother viewing experience, download and extract the .html version contained in the zip file at the same URL.

From our abstract:
The survey results reveal several key areas that JPEG 2000’s user community will need to have addressed in order to further enhance adoption of the standard, including perspectives from cultural institutions that have adopted it already, as well as insights from institutions that do not currently have it in their workflows. Current users areconcerned about limited compatible software capabilities with an eye toward needed enhancements. They realize also that there is much room for improvement in the area of educating and informing the cultural heritage community about the advantages of JPEG 2000. A small set of users, in addition, alerts us to serious problems of cross-codec consistency and they relate file validation issues that would likely be easily resolved given a modicum of collaborative attention toward standardization. Responses from non-users disclose that there are lingering questions surrounding the format and its stability and permanence, stoked largely by a dearth of currently available software functionality, from the point of initial capture and manipulation on through to delivery to online users.

JPEG 2000 is a promising format for long-term preservation of documents. Let's hope that acceptance grows rapidly.

Cheers!

OpenDocument Format

2008-12-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

The SDA would like to highlight the importance of carefully considering file formats for long-term preservation of documents. OpenDocument format (ODF) is an excellent choice for preservation because, as stated in Resolution 2008-1 of the Canadian Library Association’s 2008 Annual General Meeting, “interoperable, vendor-neutral file format standards play a key role in ensuring preservation and future access.” The CLA also noted that “it is essential that governments and other public bodies take steps to ensure that future generations can access information created today.” ODF will not be phased out due to planned obsolescence as commercial products tend to be and it’s code is available to anyone who wants to work with it.

More information from Wikipedia:

The OpenDocument format (ODF) is a file format for electronic office documents
such as spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents.
While the specifications were originally developed by Sun, the standard was
developed by the Open Office XML technical committee of the Organization for the
Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) consortium and based
on the XML format
originally created and implemented by the OpenOffice.org office suite (see OpenOffice.org XML).
In addition to being a free and open OASIS standard, it is published (in
one of its version 1.0 manifestations) as an ISO/IEC
international standard, ISO/IEC 26300:2006 Open Document Format for Office
Applications (OpenDocument) v1.0.[2]
Published ODF standards meet the common definitions of an open standard, meaning
they are freely available and implementable.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDocument

For Museums

2008-10-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

Pardon me for lifting this post from a list I subscribe to. Eventually, the SDA would like to position itself as an entity that brings together various information and culture providers to share information and resources that will further digitization in Saskatchewan.

See below...
There is still time to join the Museum Computer Network for its annual conference, November 12 through 15, 2008, in Washington, D.C.

Network with your colleagues and take part in a full range of programming spanning diverse aspects of technology and information work in the museum and cultural heritage environment today.

Register online now at http://www.mcn.edu/conferences/index.asp?subkey=2079
Registrations are also accepted on site at any point during the conference.

View the full schedule of sessions and programming at
http://www.mcn.edu/conferences/index.asp?subkey=2093

Digitization Guidelines Initiative for US Federal Agencies

2008-10-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some excepts I picked out from a Library of Congress press release...

The Web site for the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative became publicly accessible on September 30, 2008. The URL is http://www.digitizationguidelines.gov/. The initiative represents a collaborative effort to establish a common set of guidelines for digitizing historical materials. Under this initiative, two Working Groups have been established.

1. The Still Image Working Group will focus its efforts on books, manuscripts, maps, and photographic prints and negatives. Its members include the Library of Congress, the National Agricultural Library, the National Archives and Records Administration, the National Gallery of Art, the National Library of Medicine, the National Technical Information Service, the National Transportation Library, the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Government Printing Office.

2. The Audio-Visual Working Group will address standards and practices for sound, video, and motion picture film. Its members include the Defense Visual Information Directorate of the Department of Defense, the Library of Congress, the National Agricultural Library, the National Archives and Records Administration, the National Library of Medicine, the Smithsonian Institution, the Government Printing Office and the Voice of America.

Regards,
Elgin

Fedora 3.0 Released

2008-07-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

Fedora has been downloaded 25,000 times in the last year, and is used by over 125 national libraries, institutions, and businesses worldwide to do more with their digital collections, enable long-term preservation of digital assets, build on a flexible and extensible, modular architecture, keep control of their data, and participate in Fedora's innovative community.

"Users will find it simpler to maintain and operate their repositories with version 3.0-it's more scalable and fits better into the Web."

Fedora 3.0 features the Content Model Architecture (CMA), an integrated structure for persisting and delivering the essential characteristics of digital objects in Fedora. (Also availlable at (http://sourceforge.net/projects/fedora-commons). The Fedora CMA plays a central role in the Fedora architecture, in many ways forms the over-arching conceptual framework for future development of Fedora Repositories.

Dan Davis explains the CMA in the context of Fedora 3.0, "It's a hybrid. The Fedora CMA handles content models that are used by publishers and others, and is also a computer model that describes an information representation and processing architecture." By combining these viewpoints, Fedora CMA has the potential to provide a way to build an interoperable repository for integrated information access within organizations and to provide durable access to our intellectual works.

Fedora asks you to continue to contribute your observations and comments to or . Fedora 2.2.2 will continue to be supported for production repositories.

U of Michigan Exposes Records for Harvesting, Releases OAI Toolkit

2008-07-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

The University of Michigan Library recently announced that records from their MBooks collection are available for Open Archives Initiative (OAI) harvesting. The MBooks collection consists of materials digitized by Google in partnership with the University of Michigan.
Only records for MBooks available in the public domain are exposed, (split into sets containing public domain items according to U.S. copyright law, and public domain items worldwide). There are currently over 100,000 records available for harvesting, with plans for 1 million records when the whole collection has been digitized by Google.

In conjunction, the open-source OAI toolkit has been released on SourceForge. This toolkit contains both harvester and data provider, both written in Perl.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/umoaitoolkit/

New Exhibit at the University of Saskatchewan Archives

2008-07-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

New Exhibit: Ambisextrous: Gender Impersonators of Music Hall and Vaudeville
Ambisextrous: Gender Impersonators of Music Hall and Vaudeville is an exhibition of images from the collection of the University of Saskatchewan Archives.

In 2006 Neil Richards donated to the University of Saskatchewan Archives a collection dealing with the history of theatrical transvestism and gender impersonation. The collection was assembled in connection with research for his digital exhibition All Frocked Up: Glimpses of Cross-Dressing in Saskatchewan (2003).
"The Richards collection comprises sheet music, programs, postcards, photographs, audio and video recordings. The collector attempted to represent many of the performing artists who crossed genders in their acts and the various arenas in which these impersonations were presented. An especial strength of the collection is the representation of performers associated with British music hall and with vaudeville, its North American counterpart."
"Ambisextrous is a contribution to Saskatchewan Resources for Sexual Diversity (SRSD), a project established in 2004 to improve access to information on gender and sexual diversity available in Saskatchewan’s libraries and archives."

Imaging best practices

2008-06-16T15:14:00.000-07:00

The Collaborative Digitization Program has developed a set of Imaging Best Practices http://www.bcr.org/cdp/best/comments.html. They are no longer looking for feeback; but, their knowledge base is certainly interesting.

Here is how they describe their initiative...

"It is intended to serve as a guide for practitioners in cultural heritage institutions that seek to create digital images from physical objects. Originally published by the Colorado Digitization Program in 2003 as the Western States Digital Imaging Best Practices, this updated version reflects the many changes that have occurred in the digitization field during the last five years."

PDF should be used to preserve information for the future, says a new report from the Digital Preservation Coalition.

2008-04-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

This report reviews PDF and the newly introduced PDF/Archive (PDF/A) format as a potential solution to the problem of long–term digital preservation. It suggests adopting PDF/A for archiving electronic documents as the standard will help preservation and retrieval in the future. It concludes that it can only be done when combined with a comprehensive records management programme and formally established records procedures.

This full report is available on the Digital Preservation Coalition's website: www.dpconline.org/graphics/reports/index.html#twr0802

AlouetteCanada merges with Canadiana.org

2008-04-04T15:57:00.001-07:00

Canadiana.org and AlouetteCanada merger announced

Ottawa – On March 6, 2008 the Boards of the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions (CIHM) and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) concluded an historic agreement to merge the CIHM and the AlouetteCanada initiative to create a new body with the official name of Canadiana.org. All parties declared their commitment to a coordinated and sustained program to digitize Canada's information and knowledge resources and to provide easy online access to the extraordinary wealth of written and other resources by and about Canadians

See full press release: http://www.canadiana.org/pdf/en/press_200804.pdf

Online Digitization Workshops

2008-04-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

For those of you looking for online learning opportunities related to digitization, here are some upcoming workshops from SOLINET:

Caring for Originals During Scanning Projects (Live Online) April 7, 2008 2:00pm-4:00pm (EST)
Basic Digital Stewardship (Live Online)
April 25, 2008 10:00am-12:00pm (EST)
Understanding Digital Photographs (Live Online) June 5, 2008 2:00pm-4:00pm (EST)
Digital Photograph Collections: Access and Standards (Live Online) June 19, 2008 10:00am-12:00pm (EST)

For more information, or to register, please visit: http://www.solinet.net/workshops/

I have yet to register for one of these workshops; however, the prices seem quite resonable.

Regards,
Elgin

Digitization Grants for Upcoming Year

2007-12-14T11:39:00.000-08:00

Good News!

Provincial Library has announced that they plan to run the Digitization Pilot Project Grant Program again this coming year. The Project Description and Expression of Interest documents should appear on the Sask Libraries website next week (Dec 17-21). To go directly to the digitization page, click here.

Contact Elgin Bunston or Jack Ma at Provincial Library for more details.

Welcome to SaskDigital News!

2007-11-27T16:09:00.000-08:00

The Saskatchewan Digital Alliance (SDA) is pleased to announce the launch of the Sask Digital News blog, a communication tool to foster discussion about digitization and related issues. To stay up to date with the latest digitization news, either bookmark this blog or sign up for the the blog’s RSS/XML feed so you can be automatically notified whenever a new message is posted. Also, do not be shy and join in on the discussion. We welcome you feedback and comments!

For additional information regarding the work of the SDA committee, digitization resources, provincial & national digitization initiatives, and upcoming training sessions, please go to our new website, www.Saskdigital.ca.