Indigitization Workshop

This four-day workshop will provide hands-on training, equipment, specialist sessions, and resources to support Indigenous attendees to digitize at-risk analog media such as cassette and video tapes. The goal is to help preserve oral histories, traditional knowledge, and Indigenous languages by converting these materials into accessible, long-lasting digital formats. Digitizing these collections will ensure that community members can access these archival materials and that they are protected for future generations.  

This workshop will feature step-by-step guidance and instruction by Gerry Lawson, Indigitization Technology Lead for the Indigitization Program at the University of British Columbia, as well as specialist sessions from heritage and archive specialists. 

Some sessions will include: 

• The Importance of Documentary Heritage with Executive Director of the Archives Society of Alberta (ASA) Rene Georgopalis: Archives Society of Alberta (ASA) offers a number of services to support archival institutions as well as archivists. These services include advising, grant programs and professional development opportunities. ASA is one of the Canadian councils for archives, and a similar council exists in each province and territory. This talk outlines the services ASA offers as well as the various councils in Canada. 

• A tour of the City of Edmonton Archives with Archival Technician Dylan Bremner: The City of Edmonton Archives houses records created by the City of Edmonton, as well as some of its agencies, boards, and commissions. Participants will be led through a tour of the archives, as well as given information on how to search and access archival material. 

• Loanable Digitization Kits and Programs at the Edmonton Public Library (EPL) with Brittany Cherweniuk: The Edmonton Public Library has portable digitization kits that can be brought into communities to support community-driven ditigization practices. Brittany will discuss how to loan the digitization kits and provide an overview of the EPL’s programs, resources, and services.  

• Voices of the Land with EPL: Voices of the Land is a digital space that supports communities to create, share, discover and celebrate Indigenous perspectives. Representatives from the EPL will be giving an overview of this platform and how it can be used in digitization and heritage work to access and archive culturally sensitive material. 

If you are an Indigenous person interested in building your digitization skills, preserving Indigenous heritage, and want to build community in this field, this workshop is for you! 

This workshop will be held in Edmonton by the Edmonton Heritage Council, with support from  UBC’s Indigitization initiative and the Archives Society of Alberta. Loanable digitization kits will be provided by the Edmonton Public Library. 

Specialists 

Gerry Lawson is a member of the Heiltsuk First Nation and manages the Oral History and Language Lab at the UBC Museum of Anthropology. He is the Indigitization Technology Lead, sits on the Program’s Steering Committee and helped to develop the digitization resources that grew into the Indigitization Grant Program. 

Rene Georgopalis has been the Executive Director/Archives Advisor at the Archives Society of Alberta since 2012. She has worked with archives at Musée Héritage Museum in St. Albert, Alberta, a maternity home in Toronto as well as the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives in Toronto. She holds a BA Women’s Studies, 2002, and MA Classics, 2007 from the University of Alberta and MISt Archives and Records Management, 2010 from the University of Toronto. Her interests in archives include the topics of social justice and description. 

Brittany Cherweniuk is the Indigenous Services Consultant at Edmonton Public Library. She is Métis with family ties to Smoky Lake and Fort Vermillion, Alberta. Brittany loves any form of Storytelling from reading books to sitting around a table with a pot of tea, or creating cultural connections and telling multigenerational stories through her artist practices. 

Cost: $100 per person.

Limited sponsorships available to cover registration, travel, and accommodations – additional application necessary.

Host or Publisher FIRE Funding Indigenous Resurgence in Edmonton