British Library Releases Six Endangered Archives Programme Digital Collections Online, Includes Audio Content

Six new digital collection from the British Library’s Endangered Archives Program (EAP) are now available online.
From the EAP Blog:
1. EAP190: Digitising archival material pertaining to ‘Young India’ label gramophone records

The project digitised gramophone records, disc labels, record catalogues and publicity material from ‘The National Gramophone Record Manufacturing Company Ltd. Bombay’, which issued records under the ‘Young India’ label between 1935-1955. The company produced over 10,000 titles on 78-rpm, 10 inch diameter shellac discs with two songs per disc.

2. EAP468: To preserve Indian recordings on ‘Odeon’ label shellac discs

This project digitised shellac discs, record labels and associated ephemera from the Odeon record label. Odeon label shellac discs were issued in India between 1912-1938. The company produced over 2,000 titles of north and south Indian music. About 600 titles [1,200 songs] have survived and are with private collectors.

3. EAP462: Preservation of Kaya district colonial archives and assessment of the potential and feasibility of recovering other former district capitals’ collections, Burkina Faso

This project digitised a wide variety of documents related to the administration of the Cercle de Kaya colonial district. They are of interest to a wide range of historical study fields: population, politics, economy, development, customary law. These documents provide an insight into the local intricacies of the administration, politics, economy and social life of the district.

4. EAP650: Grima in Caloto Viejo: archiving Afro-Colombian history

This project made an inventory of the historical, notarial and judicial collections held in Caloto’s alcaldía (town hall), Colombia, and digitised a sample of the most valuable and damaged documents.

5. EAP688: Digitisation of the Deed books in Saint Vincent for the slavery era, 1763-1838

This project digitised surviving Deed books for Saint Vincent from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

6. EAP749: The narrative and ritual texts, narrative paintings and other performance related material belonging to the Buchen of Pin Valley, India

The Buchen are performers of specialist rituals, travelling actors, healers and exorcists, and disciples of the 14th/15th century Tibetan ‘crazy saint’ Tangtong Gyalpo. They reside in the culturally Tibetan Pin Valley in North India and are most famous for performing an elaborate exorcism ritual called the ‘Ceremony of Breaking the Stone’.
This project digitised or took images of a variety of texts, paintings and objects associated with these traditions, including images of masks, clothing, instruments and objects used in performances; thangkas; handwritten decorated and unbound Tibetan books (pecha).

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