PRESS RELEASE: Sliding Rossland's History into the Digital Age
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre has been awarded a digitization grant from Library & Archives Canada to preserve and make accessible its multimedia collection!
In 2022, the Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre (RMDC) completed a multi-year Digitization Strategy for a collection that spans decades and includes thousands of negatives, photographs, and slides contributing to the history and culture of Rossland. The subjects include renovations to the Miners’ Union Hall, the du Maurier International and Husky World Downhill ski races, various parades, the Red Mountain Ski Club, Rossland’s railway history, and RMDC displays and old mine tours through the years.
Photo A2020.007.077 - Skiers Posed for Photo (1990s)
Photo A2020.030.074 - Skiers Posed for Photo (1990s)
Now, a major grant of $21,417 from Library & Archives Canada’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program will help the RMDC upgrade its scanning technology and digitize and rehouse approximately 1,500 of the photographic slides in its collection, ensuring that future generations have access to these valuable cultural artifacts. "We're so thankful for Library & Archives Canada's continued support of our digitization efforts,” said RMDC Collections Manager, Sara Wright. “This grant will allow us to unlock memories of Rossland one slide at a time and breathe some life back into long-forgotten images. We can't wait to see what we find and share them with you!"
Due in part to a lack of proper digitization equipment, the RMDC’s collection of slides has been difficult to share and has long been underutilized. The slides represent an invaluable component of Rossland’s photographic history, as they cover events, places, and memories that are underrepresented in our photograph collection. This project is another huge step towards our goal of not only preserving the collection but also making it more accessible to the public.
Throughout the next year, the RMDC will host at least two public digitization workshops, where staff will work with the public to digitize their own photographs, slides, and negatives. The newly digitized slides in our collection will be viewable through our Community Portal, enabling researchers, educators, and the general public to access these materials globally. By digitizing the materials, they will be saved for future generations to study and enjoy.
Photo A2015.057.026 - Paradise Lodge Construction (1991)
Contact:
Sara Wright, Collections Manager (she/her)
Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre
PO Box 26, 1100 Hwy 3B, Rossland, BC
Phone: (250) 362-7722
Email: artifacts@rosslandmuseum.ca
Website: www.rosslandmuseum.ca
About the Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre
The Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre (operated by the Rossland Historical Museum & Archives Association) aims to preserve and dynamically present the history and culture of Rossland and area. We are the visitor gateway to the Kootenays and the Columbia Basin, and we inspire and engage the public through virtual and real-life displays that bring our history and culture to life. The Museum is open year-round and welcomes visitors of all ages.
The Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre acknowledges that we live and work on unceded Sinixt tmxʷúlaʔxʷ (homeland).
About Library & Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) helps Canadians gain a better understanding of who they are. It serves as the continuing memory of the federal government and its institutions and as the guardian of Canada’s distant past and recent history.