Global Access to Local Treasures: A Botswana-Canada Collaboration
Wednesday May 14, 2025
From 12:30pm to 1:30pm
The Khama III Memorial Museum and University of Toronto Libraries have entered into an innovative partnership to digitize an exceptional collection of rare archival material in Botswana, the Khama family papers. This project is important because it supports a valuable African institution in their effort to make local materials available for a global audience, while developing of local capacity for digitization and preservation in Botswana. For the University of Toronto, it furthers their commitment to developing collections in areas that have not been traditionally well-funded, and provides international collaboration opportunities for staff. It is also an opportunity to demonstrate commitment to the idea that collections do not have to be something we own exclusively, but something that we assist in providing access to on a grand scale.
This presentation will take the audience through the multi-year process of relationship building; setting goals and priorities; securing funding; signing contracts and finally kicking off our project. We will cover some of the challenges we have faced and lessons learned, and will highlight some of the valuable material that will be available once digitization is complete.
Speakers
Outreach and Engagement Librarian for Black Studies
University of Toronto Libraries