Public access to Tranby's nationally significant collection of archival material relating to Indigenous activism and education has been a dream for a while. This project, which is a joint venture between Dr Michael Olsson (UTS Digital Information Management), Kirsten Thorpe (Jumbunna Inst for Indigenous Education & Research) and Tranby National Indigenous Adult Education and Training Organisation, will complete a significant step towards making this a reality.

The digitisation strategy developed through the project will form the basis for a pilot implementation of the digital collection using the Mukurtu Content Management System, a specialist platform designed in collaboration with Indigenous communities.

Kirsten Thorpe, a Worimi woman, is a professional archivist and currently works as researcher and archivist at Jumbunna. She is an expert in the conservation of Indigenous materials for future generations and has

worked with Richard Neville at the State Library and with Kimberly Christen at the Center for Digital Curation and Scholarship in the US to ensure that Mukurtu can provide a stong infrastructure for such a project.

Tranby is a not-for-profit organisation with more than 60 years’ experience of working with the Indigenous community. It is known as a place for community empowerment, significant in its work for reform and social impact. Its resources are unparalleled in their local and national significance.

Mukurtu, dubbed a safe keeping place, is a grassroots project aiming to empower Indigenous communities to manage, share, and exchange their digital heritage in culturally relevant and ethically-minded ways. This project represents an opportunity to protect the cultural heritage materials held at Tranby for generations to come.

The aim of the project will be to conduct an audit of the Tranby collection, develop a digitisation strategy, as well as a pilot implementation of the digital collection using the Mukurtu Content Management System, a specialist platform designed in collaboration with Indigenous communities

The money raised will be used to pay a research assistant to aid the partners in carrying out the project.