[LIS-Forum] Fwd: Introducing the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)

[Dr. J. K. Vijayakumar]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Samip Mallick <mallick at uchicago.edu>
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:52:01 -0500
Subject: [Consald-l] Introducing the South Asian American Digital
Archive (SAADA)
To: CONSALD <consald-l at library.wisc.edu>

The South Asian American
 Digital Archive (SAADA) aims to document,
preserve and provide access to the history of the South Asian American
community.

The archive is available online at http://www.saadigitalarchive.org

We welcome all comments and suggestions at info at saadigitalarchive.org

**********

SAADA’s digital collections reflect the vast range of experiences of
the South Asian diaspora in the U.S., including those who trace their
heritage to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the
many South Asian diaspora communities across the globe.

SAADA was founded in 2008 and was incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit
organization in 2010. SAADA founder and President of the Board Samip
Mallick explained, “We founded SAADA in recognition of a critical
 need
to document and preserve the history of this community.  There are no
other archives that are working to systematically document, preserve
and make accessible the material history of South Asians in the United
States. Without SAADA, we feared that this history was in danger of
being lost.”

Digitized materials in SAADA’s collections reflect the diversity of
the community,  including: the papers of the first Asian American
Congressman, Dalip Singh Saund; historic articles about the early
immigration of South Asians to the U.S. dating from 1910; pamphlets
created by the Gadar Party in California in 1915; and photographs
documenting the political activism of the South Asian American Voting
Youth (SAAVY) in 2004.

“A community's strength is in its collective memory,” said SAADA board
member, Tina Bhaga Yokota. “I like to think of SAADA as a brain trust
of South Asian American
 history. We're interested in the small stories
as well as the big ones. Everyone’s history is important. The more
stories we archive - through photos, letters, video, or other media –
the more our collective memory strengthens. But we have to start now,
because our grandparents and great grandparents’ are getting older and
we need to capture their stories so they can be shared with subsequent
generations.”

SAADA is currently looking to expand its collections by digitizing
additional materials. The organization is particularly interested in
archival records that document a range of political engagement and
cultural expression among diverse South Asian American communities.
Those interested in contributing are encouraged to contact the
organization.

Unlike most archives, SAADA focuses solely on providing access to
materials on the internet. “SAADA is different from museum exhibitions
or
 university collections because it's located online, catalogued
systematically, and accessible to all, free of charge.  I envision
SAADA being an interactive learning hub for accessing personal
perspectives of larger movements, important local histories, and
forgotten narratives from early settlers in the 19th and 20th
centuries,” Yokota said.

Board member Manan Desai echoed this excitement. “As a repository of
materials relating to this diaspora, SAADA can become an invaluable
resource for researchers and community members in piecing together the
past.  Putting these materials online allows this history to be
accessible for a larger public,” he said.

**********

All the best,
Samip

Samip Mallick
President
Board of Directors
South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
Email: samip at saadigitalarchive.org

http://www.saadigitalarchive.org

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