The digitisation of the Walter Rodney Archives has commenced with trained archivists utilising the recently revamped digital camera and scanning tray, under a $10 million project funded jointly by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and UNESCO, with $5.2 million going directly to equipment upgrades.
Speaking at a press conference at the archives building on Homestretch Avenue, Secretary General for UNESCO Inge Nathoo said that training and equipment upgrade were to become a part of the archiving process in Guyana. She noted that it was imperative for curators and archivists in Guyana to be equipped with the knowledge instead of depending on external experts. She said that when experts visit from the international community, the goal was to have staff incorporate those new skills.
Adam Wright of Icam Archive Systems, Northamptonshire, UK spent time in Guyana refurbishing the old analog camera which the government had purchased in 1997, into a digital camera. He said a new system would have cost at least $7.2 million for the camera and scanning tray, but that the equipment already at the Walter Rodney Archives was in great condition. “I was pleasantly surprised at the state of camera and the
