Challenges to Digitizing the African Heritage: Some Reflections

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: Challenges to Digitizing the African Heritage: Some Reflections
المؤلفون: D Ramatlhakwana
المصدر: ESARBICA Journal: Journal of the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives; Vol 28 (2009)
بيانات النشر: African Journals Online (AJOL), 2009.
سنة النشر: 2009
مصطلحات موضوعية: Cultural heritage, World Wide Web, Information and Communications Technology, Political science, Media studies, Digitization, Heritage custodian, Oral traditions, ICT tools, Sharing, Access, Cultural heritage management, Conviction, Ict tools, Industrial heritage, Oral tradition, Digitization
الوصف: The advent of information and communication technologies (ICTs) tools has enabled possibilities for the digitization of the African heritage. Digitization of the African heritage makes it easier to share and access digital information across the world using different ICT tools. In as much as digitization has enabled the African Heritage to be converted from text, audio and images into digital format leading to improved preservation of cultural and historical materials, this is not without challenges. The critical challenge emanates from whether it is the ICT or the people who have to determine the material which qualifies to be the African heritage. Another equally important challenge is whether digitizing the African heritage will not be seen as intrusive into places which have been seen and revered as sacred. There is then the challenge of overcoming a hurdle which develops when ICT is expected to take over and to replace traditional practices of preserving and providing access to African heritage. The prospect of introducing new technology into a traditionalist environment may pose a problem if the traditionalists view the technology as trying to change the way they have been relaying their history and traditional practices. For example, the oral tradition of telling stories around the fire will now lose the setting and ambience that this tradition created. Here the medium of communication is changed; the connection with the audience is also modified as well as immediate feedback. The last challenge relates to the authenticity of digitized heritage. This paper seeks to discuss the above challenges. It does so with conviction that digitizing the African heritage is not just about converting material from analogue into digital format but encompasses its acceptance and use. The acceptance and use will be achievable only when the above challenges are appreciated and ways found to address them.
وصف الملف: application/pdf
تدمد: 0376-4753
DOI: 10.4314/esarjo.v28i1.44403
URL الوصول: https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_dedup___::5c55a674e701200f7d2457827c0b7a87
https://doi.org/10.4314/esarjo.v28i1.44403
رقم الانضمام: edsair.doi.dedup.....5c55a674e701200f7d2457827c0b7a87
قاعدة البيانات: OpenAIRE
الوصف
تدمد:03764753
DOI:10.4314/esarjo.v28i1.44403