<div dir="ltr"><div><div>Dear all,</div><div><br></div><div>After many conversations, I
thought it would be a good idea to restate the priorities we have in
mind for funding the full proposals for digitisation and development
next year. The ten different issues we have concerns about are listed
in the scoping grant letter which I've pasted below (they're not
identical for each project but the broad areas are similar and
overlapping). In assessing the big proposals, however, we have a
shorter list of priority concerns. These are:<br></div><div><br></div><div>1) Collaboration.<br></div><div>We
will only be funding a handful of the 30 projects, so the proposals
that can assemble many related concerns around a single process /
platform will be very attractive. This is a Supra-Institutional
Programme, so we are particularly interested in cross-campus
collaborations. We'd like to encourage you to find each other by
looking at the projects at <a href="http://wiser.wits.ac.za/afridig" target="_blank">http://wiser.wits.ac.za/afridig</a>
(although not all of the projects listed there have received scoping
grants). There may also be other projects we've not heard about that
can be pulled together into the full proposal. If you'd like us to
suggest suitable partners, please write to <a href="mailto:afdhumanities@gmail.com" target="_blank">afdhumanities@gmail.com</a>.<br></div><div><br></div><div>2) Insourcing institutional capacity</div><div>One
major objective of the programme is to re-awaken the universities'
digitisation capacity, broadly conceived. That can take many forms, but
the main idea is that the core skills and resources should be available
to other projects at the home instiution/s after your project is
completed. Putting pressure on your own library to get its act together
is a good idea! We have been working hard with the Wits Library on
this, and they will very shortly appoint a full time Digicentre Manager
who can assist each of the projects, and we're keen to help with similar
efforts on the other campuses. I'll introduce the Wits Digicentre
person to this list when we have an appointment.</div><div><br></div><div>3) Exposing sources produced by black authors</div><div>Projects
that can help to expose works produced by black authors that are
currently difficult to source or distribute will be prioritised in an
effort to counter what we see as a powerful bias in the available
on-line materials and a serious problem with humanities teaching and
research.</div><br></div><div>4) Standards-based cataloguing and discoverability. <br></div><div>This
project's long-term goal is to support a southern African on-line
materials aggregator that will help to structure and reinforce the
scholarly priorities of researchers based in this region. To do this we
believe that all of the work should be produced using a standards-based
cataloguing and publishing tool. Atom is one obvious platform but each
project may have its own favourite, as long as the goal of
standards-based cataloguing is clear and achievable.</div><div><br></div><div>I hope that all makes sense, but please shout if you have any further questions.</div><div><br></div><div>Yours, Keith<br></div><div><p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto;page-break-after:auto;font-family:"Caladea",serif"><font face="Caladea, serif"><b>----------------------<br></b></font></p><p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto;page-break-after:auto;font-family:"Caladea",serif"><font face="Caladea, serif"><b>1 Technical requirements of
digitisation</b></font></p>
<ul><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Describe the
facilities required (digitisation hardware, digitisation processes,
cataloguing software, and preservation storage)</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="font-family:"Caladea",serif;margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">How will the project cost and resource each
of these?</p>
</li></ul>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="font-family:"Caladea",serif;margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto"><b>2</b><b> P</b><b>referred</b><b> </b><b>digitisation
partners</b></p>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="font-family:"Caladea",serif;margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto"><i><span style="font-weight:normal">Libraries:
</span></i><i>UCT, Wits Digitisation Centre, Pretoria, Stellenbosch,
UWC </i><i>or commercial partners</i></p>
<ul><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Details</p>
<ul><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Contact person</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Describe
facilities (Digitisation hardware, cataloguing software, and
preservation storage)</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="font-family:"Caladea",serif;margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Estimated cost for digitisation of
materials</p>
</li></ul>
</li></ul>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="font-family:"Caladea",serif;margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">3 <b>Describe the scope of the materials to be
digitised:</b></p>
<ul><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Description of
the collection</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Number and
current form of Pages / Objects / Sites</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Number of
bibliographic objects</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Location /
Holdings</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Subjects covered
: Keywords</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Time periods
covered by decade</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Geography
covered by region</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="font-family:"Caladea",serif;margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Form of digital objects
</p>
</li></ul>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto;page-break-after:auto;font-family:"Caladea",serif">
<font face="Caladea, serif">4 <b>What standardised cataloguing
software will the project use?</b></font></p>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto;page-break-after:auto;font-family:"Caladea",serif">
<font face="Caladea, serif">A core goal of this programme is to
produce accessible digital materials that adopt global cataloguing,
publishing and preservation standards. Which of the following will
the project use?</font></p>
<ul><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">AtoM</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Omeka</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Drupal (how
standardised?)</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0cm;font-family:"Caladea",serif;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Dspace</p>
</li><li>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="font-family:"Caladea",serif;margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto">Other standards-based tools</p>
</li></ul>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto;page-break-after:auto;font-family:"Caladea",serif">
<font face="Caladea, serif"><b>5 How will this project diversify and
enrich existing collections of humanities research materials?</b></font></p>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;font-weight:normal;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto;page-break-after:auto;font-family:"Caladea",serif">
<font face="Caladea, serif"><i>Another goal is to increase the
exposure of unavailable or scarce works that have been produced by
black writers by making them available in standards-based on-line
formats. </i></font>
</p>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto;page-break-after:auto;font-family:"Caladea",serif">
<font face="Caladea, serif"><b>6 Describe collaboration details: </b></font>
</p>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto;page-break-after:auto;font-family:"Caladea",serif">
<font face="Caladea, serif"><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">With
which other projects (</span></span></i></font><font face="Caladea, serif"><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">short
descriptions are </span></span></i></font><font face="Caladea, serif"><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">listed
at <a href="https://breckenridge-org-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1jedBAhnsQ5e2tjAPsfllcJI2mfFCv3ReD4VDFoAxpTA-0&key=YAMMID-61243788&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwiser.wits.ac.za%2Fafridig" target="_blank">https://wiser.wits.ac.za/</a></span></span></i></font><font face="Caladea, serif"><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">afridig</span></span></i></font><font face="Caladea, serif"><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">)
can you foresee working? </span></span></i></font><font face="Caladea, serif"><i><span style="font-weight:normal"><span style="background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Inter-campus
collaboration and resource sharing is an important criterion.</span></span></i></font></p>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;page-break-before:auto;page-break-after:auto;font-family:"Caladea",serif">
<font face="Caladea, serif"><b>7 Where </b><b>and how </b><b>will
this material be hosted?</b></font></p>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;font-family:"Caladea",serif;page-break-before:auto"><font face="Caladea, serif"><b>8
What are the plans for the long-term preservation of high-resolution
images, and other large data formats?</b></font></p>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;font-family:"Caladea",serif;page-break-before:auto"><font face="Caladea, serif"><b>9
What is the plan for the long-term sustainability of this
collection, its publication and preservation? </b></font>
</p>
<p class="gmail-m_-4739516666544845345gmail-m_1907980472737380314gmail-western" style="margin-bottom:0.21cm;line-height:100%;font-family:"Caladea",serif;page-break-before:auto"><font face="Caladea, serif"><b>10
Do examples exist – locally or internationally – of similar
projects? And, if so, please describe them. Have you made contact with the project
leaders? </b></font></p></div><div><br></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div style="text-align:left">-------<br>Keith Breckenridge <b><span style="color:rgb(153,0,0)">W I S E R</span></b><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102)"> - The Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand | Pbag 3, PO Wits, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2050 |<font size="2"> Phone +27(0)11-7174272 | </font></span><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102)">Web</span>: <font size="2"><a href="http://wiser.wits.ac.za" target="_blank">wiser.wits.ac.za |</a> <a href="http://goo.gl/nJKK5N" target="_blank"><i>Biometric State</i>, CUP, Sept 2014</a> | Co - Editor, <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=AFH" target="_blank">Journal of African History</a>.<br></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>