“It was about developing human capacity to systematically and professional evaluate the holdings in Guyana as a precursor to the stabilizing and reformatting of the assets,” US Professor

Fifteen persons last evening received their certificates following the completion of what has been dubbed a historical archiving stint, in the preservation of ‘analog audio media’ facilitated through a special collaboration with the University of Guyana and the Ohio University in the United States of America.
The course that began in January of this year saw 30 participants from across of range of critical institutions benefitting and includes the National Library, the National Communications Network, the National Archives, the National Cultural Centre, the University of Guyana and the National Centre for Educational Resource Development.
The archiving course benefitted from the input of Dr Vibert Cambridge, Professor Emeritus, School of Media Arts and Studies, Ohio University as well as Assistant Professor, Music Production and Recording Industry Studies also of the Ohio University Eddie Ashworth.
The simple ceremony was held at the University of Guyana’s Centre for Communication Studies under the watchful eye of its Director, Carolyn Walcott.
Carifesta X was the catalyst for the course, which according to the visiting scholars, will by no means end with this stint and will continue long into the future given the important nature of the work in the preservation of Guyana’s history.
Providing an overview of the program, Professor Cambridge said that in 2008 when Guyana hosted the Carifesta X, it was recognized that the capacity of the National Communications Network to adequately cover the events had been stretched.
He explained to those attending the simple ceremony yesterday at the UG’s Centre for Communication Studies that at the time 20 undergraduates of the Ohio University along with two faculty members and an Alumni had visited with one of the students being posted at NCN.
Ricky Chillcock, the student who had been posted to NCN immediately on his return to the US began petitioning the University, pointing his concern that valuable assets in the form of national patrimony and historical records were in danger of being lost forever.
That student managed to convince his tutors to have a grant written to assist Guyana through the University of Guyana to build firstly on the human capacity to preserve the historical analog records.
The University’s 1804 fund meant to support and encourages the research was eventually tapped into and led to the first phase of the preservation initiative to be undertaken locally.
“It was about developing human capacity to systematically and professional evaluate the holdings in Guyana as a precursor to the stabilizing and reformatting of the assets.”
The recordings that includes music, speeches and other analog recordings held the very real possibility of being lost, said Assistant Professor Ashworth.
While the initial target of 1800 pieces of data was not met, the group, which included several students from the Ohio University, managed to deal with 1400 such pieces.
He said that in the process there was the need to firstly impart on the Guyanese students a crucial understanding of analog technology.
The archives dealt with, according to Professor Ashworth, covered a representative sampling of Guyanese and Caribbean historical materials.
The primary focus he explained was to create the core competency for professional archiving locally even as he assured that provisions are being made to ensure that the process continues long after the team would have left Guyana.
“We are very committed,” he assured adding that upon their return to the Ohio University, they will seek to ensure that the importance of the work is emphasized  and that the work continues and gains momentum.
He said that the team over the course of the past few months also managed to ensure that a database of what needs to be archived was created and reiterated that the group sought to ensure that Guyanese had been empowered to continue to work