Kimberley Language Resource Centre - DAMsmart

“We approached DAMsmart to assist with the preservation of precious language resources at the Kimberley Language Resource Centre. They stood out from other suppliers as a company with a strong record of dealing with heritage collections, providing services to a number of leading institutions. We knew that standards for ensuring future migration and management of the digital copies of our heritage recordings were important factors, so we chose DAMSmart who understood our need to preserve these resources indefinitely. They provided fantastic advice and support in the planning phase of the project, so we were able to identify the best resources to send for copying and devise a file naming system to ensure we could identify every one of the thousands of digital files on their return.
DAMsmart were able to assist with packing and transport arrangements from Halls Creek to Canberra and back. Transport was a key concern for the KLRC, situated in a remote rural town, with limited services. We were delighted with the result, all of our heritage recordings safety returned to the archive, online copies of files, photos, audio and audio visual recordings all accessible on our network. This has opened up new possibilities for us in supporting language preservation in the Kimberley and we look forward to working with DAMsmart in future to further the preservation of our resources.”
Leedo Davis, Manager , KLRC

About KLRC

The Kimberley Language Resource Centre (KLRC) was the first regional language centre established in Australia. It is the peak representative body for Aboriginal languages in the Kimberley.

The organisation was set up in 1984 (incorporated in 1985) following the establishment of the Kimberley Land Council (1978) and the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre (1984). These organisations together protect the heritage of Kimberley Aboriginal people which is based on a foundation of Land, Law, Language and Culture.

Their challenge

KLRC held a collection of videotape, audio tape and data formats in its archive. This media needed to be converted to a digital form to ensure that the collection was properly preserved. Importantly, it also needed to be made accessible today, so it could be used by the indigenous communities.

KLRC did not have the capabilities to undertake the project themselves, and therefore needed to appoint a partner with the experience and professionalism to facilitate the digitisation of a collection with cultural significance and sensitivities.

The collection

700 items that included audio cassettes, VHS videotape, MiniDV, CDs and 3.5’ floppy discs.

How DAMsmart helped make the content accessible

DAMsmart was appointed to the project by KLRC. We worked with the Centre to establish the collection database and project plan, ahead of shipping.

Video content was preserved using Lossless JPEG2000 and MPEG2 and H.264 profiles for access. The audio was provided back to KLRC as BWF and MP3 profiles.

The collection was stored safely in Canberra for the duration of the project.

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