Uganda National Archives – Entebbe, Uganda

Documenting a Nation’s Turbulent Past:
Archives in Uganda
Natalie Bond, University of Michigan
Sponsored by the University of Michigan School of Information, the University of Michigan African Studies Center, and the World Bank
Kabarole District Archives
– Fort Portal, Uganda
Uganda’s Archives: A Brief History
Project Scope: Preservation &
Digitization
Arriving in Fort Portal in June 2011 with new scanning equipment (MicroWizardDI scanner & Lenovo Thinkpad laptop) purchased with University of Michigan funding, I trained the archival employees in the basics of digital preserva6on. I developed a basic digital preserva6on strategy, in addi6on to wri6ng a collec6ons development policy for the archive, in an effort to facilitate the long-­‐term preserva6on of the material. Moses Akugizibwe scanning documents • MicroWizardDI Scanner • 300 DPI • Group IV compression Project Scope: Cataloguing
P.T. English’s appt. terminated Destruction of Lukiiko Archives by Idi Amin’s J.P.M. Fowle
troops
General elections
Idi Amin resigns
seizes power
P.T. English becomes Government Archivist of Uganda 1955
1950
Idi Amin overthrown
E.J. Wani passes away
Ugandan independence
1954
1957
1971 1972
1956
J.P.M. Fowle
appointed as Gov’t. Archivist by Colonial Office
1961 1962
Partial destruction of archival records at Jinja
1966
2001
1979
Martin Mukasa ends tenure at UNA
Martin Mukasa begins tenure at UNA
• Lenovo Thinkpad laptop • TIFF images Uganda National Archives
– Entebbe, Uganda
The majority of Uganda’s na6onal archival material are housed in Entebbe, within the Na6onal Agricultural Research Organiza6on’s headquarters. The collec6ons have been minimally processed throughout the past several decades, and our team—myself and four University of Michigan African History graduate students—was tasked with cataloguing them in their en6rety. 2000
National Archives and Records Act passed
E.J. Wani begins tenure at UNA
Uganda’s wrieen record begins with the introduc6on of Bri6sh rule in the late 1800’s, and indeed the earliest documents in the Uganda Na6onal Archive date to the early 1890’s. Despite organiza6onal and ins6tu6onal changes within the Bri6sh colonial administra6on over the years, a cohesive administra6ve record was maintained by civil servants. Throughout the turbulence of the following decades, the Ugandan Na6onal Archives persisted in spite of both episodes of deliberate destruc6on by both Bri6sh and Ugandan officials and the negligence of a na6on torn asunder by violence and cultural dissidence. Archival Practices in Developing Countries:
Political Dexterity and A Bit of Creativity
Uganda’s archival landscape is, to some extent, representa6ve of current archival prac6ces—and in some cases, lack thereof—in many other developing countries throughout the world: UM graduate students Anneeth Hundle and Jennifer Johnson, hard at work in the reading room Finished product: printed and bound versions of the catalogue Methodology
• Assessment of physical collec6on Processing room, Kabarole District Archives Stacks, Kabarole District Archive Methodology
Severely limited or nonexistent funding +
Political
motivations
+
Widespread public apathy +
Adverse environmental condi6ons =
Daun6ngly inhospitable environment for the implementa6on of Western archival prac6ces • Digital preserva6on training (scanning protocol, organiza6onal schema, implementa6on of best prac6ces for the preserva6on of digital formats) • Mee6ngs with stakeholders (Chief Administra6ve Officer of Kabarole District, MMU Vice Chancellor) • Assessment of previous organiza6onal schema • Outline for digital catalogue • Crea6on of metadata spreadsheet in Microso` Excel • Basic preserva6on ac6ons • Ini6al physical assessment of collec6ons • Equipment set-­‐up • Regular consulta6ons with Okello Ajum, Government Archivist • Processing at folder level; re-­‐housing materials • Formal & informal training sessions in basic archival prac6ce What’s at stake?
• Discussions with government officials re: development of archival educa6on in Uganda • Issues of control and access to archival collec6ons • Status of archival educa6on in Uganda Newly-­‐processed materials at the UNA • Social memory tradi6ons, grounded in Ugandan percep6ons of the past #saa12