Rosa “Chailang” Palacios shares information with Archive Manager Roberto Santos about an old photograph of herself with her late parents that will be added to her own collection on the Digital Archives.
NORTHERN Marianas Humanities Council staff will be on Rota on Saturday, Dec. 14 at the Antonio C. Atalig Memorial Library from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. as part of a Digital Preservation Lab.
Members of the public are invited to bring their documents, photos, negatives, or other artifacts that the council can record in a digital format. The scanned documents and artifacts will then be available online at the council’s Digital Archives, where several historical records are already online.
Once online, copies of the documents will exist in a format that is easily shareable and protected from typhoons or pests.
To date, the archive has over 15,000 photos, 137 videos, and nearly 40,000 documents.
Collections are sourced from the former Trust Territory government, the United Nations, the German administration of the Northern Marianas and more.
Guests who will visit the Atalig Memorial Library to participate in the digitization of documents will be guided through the recording process.
Humanities Council staff will review the documents presented and will ask residents to sign a release granting the council authorization to share the scanned copies with the public. The council will not be keeping originals.
During the digitization process, council staff will ask participants if they would like to create a new collection name comprising all the documents, or if the participant would prefer adding them to collections that already exist.
Staff will use a microphone to record the oral history associated with each document in the record. Participants will review the documents and respond to questions about them from council staff.
After all records have been annotated with as much information as possible, council staff will conduct a final review with participants and address any questions about sharing the digital records.
For questions, email info@nmhcouncil.org or call (670) 235-4785.
