Searching for a Black Pacific: An Alternative Archive Main Menu Introduction What is pampletry? What is the "Black Pacific?" What is pamphlet literature? A Brief Description/Discussion of Grey Literature What is an "alternative archive?" Building an Alternative Archive: Digitization Theories in Process A discussion of methodologies in the digitization of primary sources, their providences, and the people that produced them Why Scalar & the Internet Archive? A note on platforms A Brief History of Black Art Production in Vancouver An essay timeline of black art production in Vancouver over the 20th century. The Archive Excerpts from the personal collection of david george morgan The Archive: List of Contents An exhaustive list of digitized sources for "Searching for a Black Pacific." All pamphlets are the fonds of david george morgan, pictured behind, save those published by the grunt gallery. Group One: Magazines From the fonds of david george morgan Group Two: B.B.U.N.O. Pamphlets for art collective "Building Bridges Untitled Number One" founded by david george morgan Group Three: Art/Activist Spaces Pamphlets from exhibitions at the Helen Pitt Gallery, the grunt gallery, and others Group Four: Theatre & Touring Artists From the fonds of david george morgan. Pamphlets for the advertisement of theatre groups, tours, and workshops hosted by various groups in the Vancouver area. Group Five: Portraiture Self-protraits and more from the fonds of david george morgan Group Six: Miscellaneous, 1990-2014 Ungrouped documents from the fonds of david george morgan Alternative Archives in COVID-19 Reflections on the digitization process in a time of communal crisis Citations, citations! The hyperlink vis à vis traditional citation formats Bibliography Dedication

Digitization: Retaining Context

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In his article on digitization of pre-existing archives, “The Importance of Context for Digitized Archive Collections,”[1] Mark Vajcner describes the two main principles of archival practice that must be maintained in digital archives, known as provenance. “Respect des fonds” refers to the principle that archival materials, when transferred to a new custody, remain as “distinct collections catalogued and filed according to their creator or office of origin.”[2] The next principle demands that the contents of said collections remain in their original order.

All of the document digitized and included in this archive come from the personal collection of david george morgan (save two produced by the grunt gallery). As there was no particular order when they were lent to me, I have organized them according to document type, creator/producer, or thematic relevance. Small explanations of the type of group and the intertextuality of the documents within will accompany each section. Lastly, when able I have hyperlinked relevant names, places and facts to applicable sites or medias.

Mark Vajcner’s main concern is the loss or disambiguation of context when archival materials are digitized or when entire archives are built with only digital content. While I have retained much informational context – even created much of it – it’s worth noting that much the physicality of the documents is lost through digitization. Size, texture, precise shape of each document become difficult to discern via their scanned proxies. While worthwhile nonetheless, the process of digitization removes most of the physical context of the collection at hand.


 
 
[1] Mark Vajcner. “The Importance of Context for Digitized Archival Collections.” Journal of the      Association for History and Computing , vol. 11, no. 1, Apr. 2008,         http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.3310410.0011.102.
[2] Ibid., “Archives as Evidence.”
 

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  1. Tracing Vancouver's Black Art Scene through Pamphlet Literature Phoebe Joan Colby