Indexing and Digitizing of the Archival Material on Ethiopian Studies of the Frobenius Institute

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Karl-Heinz Kohl
• Term: from 2014 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 251921648

The main objectives of the project are the indexing and sustainable archiving of material concerning Ethiopian Studies from the legacies of the Frobenius Institute and the public facilitation of these documents in an open access data base and in comprehensive portals. The analogue archival material which is dealt with comprises diverse media (such as maps, notebooks, travel reports, letters, published and unpublished ethnographies, photographs, and films) and represents a unique documentation of southern Ethiopia, which has evolved at the Frobenius Institute between the years 1935 and 1994. Until now the material has been nearly inaccessible and only available in German language. By digitizing it and feeding it in a German and English digital data base, the material will be accessible to an international audience for the first time.The project further plans an exchange of knowledge with Ethiopian academics and local experts. Together with them the archival material will be discusses, commented and utilized for further research. The outcomes of the cooperation will also be fed in the data base.In summary the project will produce a unique data base which will be internationally relevant for the ethnography and history of southern Ethiopia.

• DFG Programme: Cataloguing and Digitisation (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)