collections: library digitization projects -- preserving the history and culture of Afghanistan | artifacts, maps, newspapers, photographs.
Preserving the History and Culture of Afghanistan
The Preserving the History and Culture of Afghanistan project is focused principally on
preservation, with public access as a secondary aspect. Consequently, at this stage, the project is
concerned with "rare and endangered" texts of primary interest to scholars and researchers.
Nonetheless, the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection contains much more than books. A few of these
other materials are highlighted below. The strongest candidates for digital preservation are
photographs and newspapers. Determining publication rights for photographs is a complex and time-consuming
process, so digitization of photographs will focus on creating digital images for preservation purposes.
Digitizing newspapers, with the associated indexing, is a complex process that would not be done locally
should one of these titles be selected for digitization. Again, public access is contingent on publication
rights which may be difficult to determine.
Artifacts
A small number of artifacts, primarily relating to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, are
held in the Arthur Paul Collection. These are frequently available for viewing in display cases
at the University Library.
Maps
While the Arthur Paul Collection contains a large number of maps, including historical
maps of south central Asia and geographic quad maps of Afghanistan, maps are not a
digitization priority for this collection. Excellent online map collections covering Afghanistan
are already available, notably at the University of Texas and the developing
Afghanistan Atlas Project
here at UNO.
Newspapers
A significant number of
Afghan newspapers are held in the Paul collection focusing on the 1960s - 80s. Most, although
not all, are in microfilm and microfiche formats. Presenting few long-term preservation problems,
this portion of the collection is not a high priority for immediate digitization.
Photographs
The University Library acquired the Afghan Folio collection
created by Luke Powell, a photographer from Middlebury, VT. The 32 dye transfer photographs
depict Afghanistan from 1974 - 1978. The collection was exhibited throughout the United States,
Canada and Europe. An
online exhibit of the collection is available through the photographer's
web site.
In addition to the Afghan Folio collection, the Arthur Paul
Collection contains many photographs that may be digitized for preservation and for public access,
contingent on available publication rights
Acquisition of the Afghan Folio collection was
made possible by an initial gift from Paul and Mary Stultz and subsequent gifts from several
donors.
