Digitization Projects: "Google, Kenya Digitise Parliament Records"

From IT News Africa:

Kenyans now have free online access to debates from the Hansards, a collection of debates that date back to the pre-independence Legislative Council.

The earliest edition of the Hansard indexed is the Report of the Fourth Session of the Debates for the Legislative Council, dated November 24, 1959.

Until currently, these records have only been available to the public in hard copy as part of the public records of the Kenya National Assembly and the Kenya National Archives.

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This initiative, Open Access to Public Legal Information, is aimed at improving access to public information. While Article 35 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 establishes the citizen’s right of access to public information, actual access remains limited. The records of the Hansard and the Gazette can be accessed online at: www.kenyalaw.org and www.parliament.go.ke.

This announcement comes after the digitisation of over 100 years of the Kenya Gazette in April 2011, with historical copies dating back to 1906, for free, via Google Books.

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See Also: Open Access to Public Legal Information: Online Archive of the Kenya Gazettes

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Digital Preservation, News, Open Access, Resources