- Proposed
name
- CHPI
: Caribbean Historical Preservation Institute
(Open to review and change).
- Mission
Statement
- (To
be created when all the ideas and suggestions have been received and considered).
-
- Over-all initial concept
(Open to review and
change)
- Multi-national,
international, Caribbean and local sponsors combine resources with local governments and
local Societies / Associations / Friends into one self-sustaining, not-for-profit umbrella
organisation which is Caribbean-wide in scope, starts with expenditure in preservation and
research, and adds income in production and sales as a stock of material is built up and
can be reproduced in a clean, readable and accessible format.
-
- The
major resource should be (initially private) a searchable database of all documents OCR'd
so that every single word (name, place, location) can be accessed in its relevance on a
document for any purpose. A feature of the search should be fuzzy logic (such as the IGI's
Soundex) where words that have changed over the years would be included in the results
returned (Barbadoes = Barbados; Londinium = London; etc.). This database could eventually
be made available on the web by subscription so that individual research can be done
anywhere.
The CHPI would find the financing (and, where possible, the proper equipment) from donors
and seek the fullest written authority from governments - the key to the vault, basically
- to digitise all existing records, starting with the oldest and most fragile available,
and present the local government Archive or Library with copies of the digitised material
appropriately in properly bound paper or microfilm or microfiche form (as locally desired)
periodically or as each document is completed.
-
- Digital
copies of everything would be deposited in several places (Barbados, USA, Canada, UK),
uploading in real time via the Internet and/or by periodically sending hard drives in the
mail so that no part of the archive could be totally lost in any possible eventuality
(fire, hurricane, earthquake, theft, or any other natural or man-made disasters).
The sustaining force is vending, sales, education and tourism... vending copiers, vending
microfilm/fiche printers, research-for-hire and research-to-order by phone, fax and
internet, copies of books and documents on paper, film, fiche and CD (and whatever other
mediums come along), guided tours, classes, articles, publications, and whatever else is
deemed appropriate. the informational output and distribution is expected to be
substantially more prolific than the informational input.
-
- The
local presences would remain local, soliciting local, international and multi-national
advertising, service, supplies, and whatever else they need. Hopefully, the vending part
would pay most of the expenses, and I am sure that if such a project were to get started
the rest would follow (with the right publicity, of course).
A Caribbean-managed organisation, run by reputable, interested and active Caribbean
nationals with international affiliations, has a far better chance of great success
than a foreign-owned and/or foreign-run entity, simply because of the trust factor. And,
starting in an island like Barbados suggests that if it can be introduced there and an
established Caribbean model constructed it will also succeed as such elsewhere in the
region.
-
- An
established successful model would presumably also have the support and recommendation of
local politicians and administrators as expansion is carried out locally and to the other
islands.
-
- Major long-term objective
(Open to review and
change)
- Nothing
less than a complete usable copy (on paper and/or film, but mostly available on file,
database and other electronic media) of every piece of historical and genealogical
evidence worldwide relating to each island in the Caribbean. Every word stored in a
database (such as the search engines implement) so that it can be searched by name, place,
location - or any other factor (eg: genealogy books use an "Index Nominum" =
Name Index).
Clearly, storage on advanced electronic media through a network with multiple backup
procedures and locations would be the most efficient and compact method of storage and for
retrieving images for on-site, on-demand printing, and for ongoing future manipulation
such as OCR, CD-imaging, custom individual or mass archiving through data processing
routines, etc.
(No current information about effective, high quality binding possibilities on
location - such as "perfect binding" - but that shortfall is not a significant
obstacle to starting or continuing such a venture, and it is easy to start such a process
using fast and temporary methods used by print stores - such as spiral or tooth binding.)
- To
incorporate and make a reality the Caribbean Historical Preservation Institute with the
object of implementing immediate and ongoing projects in Historical and Archaeological
Preservation in coordination with local citizens and governments;
- If
necessary and possible to incorporate the existing local and offshore "Friends
of..." support entities into the larger organisation;
- To
contact, encourage and coordinate all possible government, donor, corporate and private
agencies, Museums, Archives and individuals into a single organised force that will work
together to achieve the necessary steps, one island at a time, in the shortest possible
time frame;
- To
seek out Heads of Governments and wherever possible have buildings, signage and facilities
permanently assigned that are appropriate to the archival function; and/or to acquire
property, buildings and facilities through ouright purchase, grant or donation;
- To
seek out and have installed the necessary digitiser-printers, binders, computers,
networks, microfilm and microfiche equipment, air conditioning, humidity control, special
processing equipment and insect control to international archival standards;
- To
seek out and have installed (beg, borrow, buy, have donated) the appropriate high quality
photocopiers, microfilm readers and microfilm printers, all with embedded vending
capability so that the machinery and the institutions will have an ongoing capability to
finance themselves and take care of future requirements through ongoing philanthropy
and/or tasteful advertising opportunities;
- To
seek out and implement agreements whereby local service companies are committed to
providing installation, advice, service, parts, paper, options and/or supplies free or at
cost (or less) in return for localised advertising, whether on the machines, through named
rooms or buildings, or by any other device;
*Please
note: In any and all of the above equipment requirements, I do not believe that any
equipment in poor condition would be acceptable simply because it was being donated.
Donated equipment should be either new or reconditioned to a 10-year normal life
expectancy (or longer).
== IMPORTANT: Either this is done properly or not at all. ==
- Open
to any and all other useful and practical suggestions, including internet-related.
- To
make a start with Barbados. Immediately.
- Why
Barbados? Because Barbados is an ideal location to create the first model for repeating on
the other islands:
- excellent
infrastructure
- excellent
communications
- excellent
transportation: internal and external
- central
location: would work well as a future supply-line headquarters
- forward
attitudes
- several
good local researchers already in place
- University
of WI campus located there
- more
good material to start with
- more
+ + +
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