BibliohackIn February, Bibliohack was in the city of Pigüé, in the southwest of the Province of Buenos Aires, 560 km from where we live, installing a digitization laboratory (thread)
We were installing a copy-stand to capture documents that generally cannot be digitized by conventional devices, either due to their size, typology or fragility (posters, diaries, paintings, memorabilia, etc.)
The city of Pigüé was founded in 1884, with the arrival of 40 French families from the department of Aveyrón. Over time, it received immigrants from all over Europe and European-style mansions from the early 20th century still remain.
Thanks to the initiative of Amicale and the collaboration of the Pigüé Museum and Archive, the Municipality, and the local Pigüé community, which contributed the resources to materialize the project, we began over a year ago with the planning and preparations.
(Amicale is an organization dedicated to keeping alive the connection between descendants of immigrants and their French ancestors.)
Digitization projects of archival collections not only contribute to valorizing and disseminating historical heritage but also foster collaboration among those responsible for its preservation.
Those responsible for preserving heritage are not only official institutions like museums and archives, but also parishes, businesses, cooperatives, clubs, or individuals who often hold unique documents that these processes help to revalue.
We believe that digitization projects developed in these contexts create synergies that involve and inspire similar initiatives in nearby communities, leveraging existing resources.
Building capabilities within communities that are the primary custodians of their heritage is essential for ensuring the sustainability of preservation and management projects for these collections.
Building capabilities within communities that are the primary custodians of their heritage is essential for ensuring the sustainability of preservation and management projects for these collections.
We were already in Mendoza, Argentina, carrying out a similar project (doing a deployment far from our place of residence):
https://bibliohack.org/posts/Mendoza_Instalaci%C3%B3n_de_estativo/
in the city of Rosario, Argentina:
https://bibliohack.org/posts/Estativo_en_V_en_UCA_Rosario/
and also in Bogotá, Colombia:
The device, designed by Bibliohack, only uses materials and suppliers that are easy to obtain and cheap, such as MDF boards and laser cutting services.
And it is open hardware!
