by Cara Krmpotich
GRASAC is excited to announce that we have received $200,000 from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and Ontario Research Fund to build 20 “Mobile Community Research Kits” – self-contained backpacks that enable digital cultural heritage work to happen in communities, by communities, for communities.
The kits will contain rugged laptops, cameras, audio recorders, portable scanners, mesh networking equipment, and virtual reality devices. The laptops will also be able to connect to the Internet, even if in the bush. GRASAC members will be able to borrow any number of the backpacks to support community-based digital heritage work. GRASAC research assistants are creating guides for how to use the equipment, and can also provide remote or in-person training. The equipment will be maintained and updated by research assistants at the University of Toronto.
We saw a need for the kits before the pandemic—to support creative, digital work in communities by artists, historians, language warriors, environmental stewards. Universities can’t be the only places where research and digital tools are located. Covid-19 has only emphasized how important community-led and community-based projects are, and we are excited to be able to support independent, land-based, community work.
GRASAC members are already getting creative with digital tools, whether to document collections and their own art work, provide remote access to ancestral belongings during the pandemic, or creating opportunities for intergenerational knowledge sharing. Of course, the Backpacks can also be used during GRASAC group visits to museums and archives!
Equipment is currently being purchased. Stay tuned for further information on how to borrow the backpacks, and for stories that will inspire creative approaches to digital heritage!