BARBADOS NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR UNESCO
MEMORY OF THE WORLD PROGRAMME

Report from Barbados for the Period 2003 - 2005


1.  Elections

1.1  Election to International Committee
Miss Alissandra Cummins, Director, Barbados Museum and Historical Society, Chair of the Unesco National Committee and Chair of the International Committee of Museums was elected to serve on the International Committee of MoW in 2005.

 
1.2 Election to Regional Committee
Miss Elizabeth Watson, Librarian, Learning Resource Centre, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill was elected to the regional committee of MoW in 2005.

 
2.  Nominations

2.1 International Register
In 1999, UNESCO launched the Slave Trade Route Project.  This overall goal of the project was "to break a silence and make universally known the issue of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery, its causes and dramatic results, by means of scientific work".  The specific aims of the project was to:

1.  improve access to and use of documents related to the slave trade and its various forms, in order to highlight its impact and lasting consequences; and to,
2.  guarantee the protection and accessibility of documents with universal value through digitization 


Funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), 13 candidate countries were chosen for the first phase of this project.  They were Benin, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana and Senegal in Africa, plus Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba and Haiti in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Barbados produced the CD-ROM Caribbean Slave Archives Project of its activities within this project and it was able to have the register listed on the international register of the MoW.

In November 2004, the final meeting for the project was held in Cuba.  Barbados was represented by Miss Alissandra Cummins, Chair, Barbados National Committee for UNESCO and Miss Elizabeth Watson, Chair, MoW, Barbados.

On the completion of its phase of the project The Barbados Museum and Historical Society made a successful submission to the International Register for the listing of the Slave Trade Archive.  The Slave Trade Archive becomes the 3rd Caribbean listing on the international register.   (See Appendix 1 for the Barbados section of this report.)

2.2.  Regional and National Registers
The Chair, MoW was contacted by Mrs. Winsome Hudson, Executive Director, National Library of Jamaica regarding a project of that library to develop a regional register.  The Caribbean Slave Archives Project was submitted.  Mrs. Hudson was advised that MoW Barbados intended to investigate a number of collections for possible listing during 2006.

 
3.  Training Activities
In order to have the level of support necessary to meet the aims and objectives of the MoW programme, MoW Barbados sees capacity building as an important activity.  Thus, considerable emphasis is being placed on training in a range of areas pertinent to the goals of the MoW programme.

3.1 Eastern Caribbean Sub-regional Workshop on the Preservation of AV Materials.
With funds from the CI sector of UNESCO, from June 29 - July 1, 2005 a three day workshop was held for persons from the Eastern Caribbean Sub-region to improve the capacity of the region to preserve its AV holdings with particular reference to the vinegar syndrome.  Countries represented at the workshop were, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia as well as St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.  Each of these countries sent 2 representatives. Barbados had four representatives.  Special invitations were sent to Belize and Jamaica which sent one participant each.  The British Virgin Islands was unable to accept the invitation extended to them.

The workshop was run by Mr. Nick Newnham, Senior Researcher, Preservation and Technical Services Branch, ScreenSound Australia and it was coordinated by MoW Barbados with assistance of Mrs. Cheryl Fitzpatrick-Payne of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation.

3.2.  Digitizing Resources: Protecting the Past for the Future
With funds from the Participation Programme 2004-5, in collaboration with the Barbados National Library Service, the MoW successfully submitted the project Digitizing Resources: Protecting the Past for the Future.  The project's aim is to build national capacity with respect to digitizing skills.  The project had 2 aspects:

1.  Two one week workshops in digitization for approximately 30 Barbadian librarians was held in November 2005.  Workshop Coordinator was Ms. Lucia Phillip, Director IT Services, National Library and Information Services (NALIS), Trinidad and Tobago; and
 
2.  Providing opportunities for international exposure and networking for two senior librarians from Barbados.  One librarian attended the International Federation of Library and Information Institutions in Oslo during August 2005 and the other attended the Digitial Futures Workshop mounted by the Kings College and OCLC/PICA in London during October 2005.

Based on the reports we have received all aspects of the project were successful. Copyright with respect to the digital domain has been requested as an area for follow up activities on the workshops.  This will be done in early 2006.

 
4.  The Future
The Committee is in the process of identifying programmes/activities for 2006.  Copyright in a digital environment has already been identified as the next training programme.  This will augument the capacity building activities of the digitizing workshops. The Committee also plans to look at Barbadiana that may be eligible for listing on the national, regional and local registers.


5.  Members of the MoW Committee

The Committee was recently re-activitated and is as follows:

            Miss Elizabeth Watson - Chair

            Dr. Andrew Downes  - Deputy Chair and Secretary

            Mrs. Cherie-Ann Beackles (UWI Archives)

            Miss Lynn Lucas (Government Information Service)

            Mr. Sherwood MacCaskie (Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation)

            Mrs Ingrid Marshall (Department of Archives. Barbados Government),

            Miss Harriet Pierce (Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation)

            Miss Annette Smith (National Library Service)

            Mrs. Andrea Wells (National Cultural Foundation)

            Miss Alissandra Cummins - Member, International MoW Committee - ex officio

            Miss Harriet Daisley - Sec Gen. UNESCO National Committee - ex officio

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