Digitisation and Preservation of Customary Court Records of the Old Western Region of Nigeria (1900 – 1920s) (EAP1068)

Aims and objectives

The Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library, Obafemi Awolowo University, contains a huge collection of native/customary court records from the Western Region during the colonial years (1900 – 1963). This rare manuscript collection is unique, about twelve thousand volumes and cannot be found anywhere else in the country. The manuscript records detailed information of civil and criminal cases heard by scores of local courts during the period. Unfortunately, many of the volumes are in poor condition due to age, use, while some have been damaged by insects and humidity. Thus, there is an urgent need to digitise this collection and preserve it for posterity.

The pilot project is to facilitate the preservation and accessibility of Customary Courts Records currently stored in a large air-conditioned room in the basement of Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. We would like to evaluate the processes involved in digitisation and preservation in order to gain the knowledge and skills we will need for a bigger project. The result of the pilot project will enable us to understand fully the scope of the work and the extent of preparation and funds that will be needed to digitise and preserve the entire collection.

 

 

Outcomes

The records copied by this project have been catalogued as: