Digital Futures Workshop 2015, Ghana

All the delegates for the workshop outside the Balme Library, University of Ghana
Recently I gave a short Digital Futures workshop as part of the International Conference of African Digital Libraries and Archives (ICADLA4). Hosted at the University of Ghana we had a superb 2 day course with 41 participants from 11 countries. This is a visual record plus some materials from the workshop.


Pre-Conference Workshop for the 4th International Conference on
African Digital Libraries and Archives (ICADLA-4) Ghana
Tuesday 26th — Wednesday 27th May 2015


I founded Digital Futures in 2004 with my long term collaborators Tom Clareson and Marilyn Deegan. We have run this course in London UK, Sydney Australia and Johannesburg South Africa. Participants from over 40 countries who want to learn about the creation, delivery and preservation of digital resources have experienced Digital Futures mainly from cultural and memory institutions. In recent years I have not run it so frequently due to time constraints and have created a cut down version to run over 2 days that can be used in conjunction with conferences. This format works as a capacity building workshop, offered to those who could not afford to attend such a course in London.

The Programme for the course is available here.

The Balme Library, University of Ghana
This Digital Futures was hosted by the Standing Committee of ICADLA in collaboration with the Department of Information Studies, University of Ghana, the Ghana Library Association and the Ghana Library Authority.



The theme of ICADLA-4 was: Strategic Framework and Action Roadmap for Africa’s Digital Libraries & Archives. I have been a member of the ICADLA International Advisory Committee since 2010. This is the second time we have associated the workshop with the conference, the first being in South Africa in 2011.

I would like to give thanks to the University of Ghana, the Department of Information Studies and the Library there which provided so much support during the week and hosted me with such kindness.

Me, Perpetua Dadzie & the Hon. Kosi Kedem
I am also going to pick out Dr Perpetua S. Dadzie without whom none of this would have come to fruition. Honorable Kosi Kedem Chaired the local organising committee with great aplomb.





Perpetua led a great team to make this workshop and the conference a great success so I hope by thanking her here all those involved can also be thanked for their important contributions.

Laura Gibson
I was also assisted throughout all the organisation and in the teaching by Laura Gibson. I am supervising her PhD at King's in the Department of Digital Humanities. Laura also presented a paper at ICADLA titled: "Content to consider: Exploring gender bias in colonial collections".

You can find Laura on Twitter at DigitisationSA.

Our student helpers from the Dept of Information Studies
We were also very ably assisted by the students from the Department of Information Studies who worked hard to make the delegates and the workshop leaders lives really comfortable and easy. And they did it with a lot of good humour (and in the evening, great dancing skills).



Warn up exercise
Making friends




Listening exercise
 

 

Local radio covered the event
 


Laura leads an ethics session
Deep in discussion
Digitisation Suite
Digitisation Suite



Certificates for all!
Certificates for all!
Certificates for all!




ICADLA Standing Committee:
Nafissatou Bakhoum, Abraham Azubuike & Perpetua

Opening the conference


This is how you kick off a conference!

Mrs. Matilda Amissah-Arthur,
Wife of the Vice President, Republic of Ghana

Professor Ernest Aryeetey,
Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana
Deep in conversation with
Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur - the eminent librarian



























































I was sad to leave Ghana so early and hope to return soon.

Infinitely sadder was the news shortly after ICADLA that its leader for so many years, Felix Ubogu had passed away. We knew he was ill and he was missed at the conference but his passing is a great shock to us all.
I have written in memoriam of him here.

Comments

  1. Unknown26 December 2015 at 01:51

    Hey, I appreciate your writing. The meeting is being composed by the Department of Information Studies (University of Ghana), the Ghana Library Association and the Ghana Library Authority. The subject for the meeting and workshop is: Strategic Framework and Action Roadmap for Africa's Digital Libraries and Archives.
    ===================================
    Africa Current Events

    ReplyDelete

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