Comment 82461

By Sigma Cub (anonymous) | Posted October 31, 2012 at 10:14:45

If anyone wants to do something great for Hamilton, they should consider a donation to the Local History & Archives Department | (aka Special Collections) to digitize their archives, post-haste.

For public information, this repository is shockingly inaccessible except by mid-20th century means. It is one of the few places you can find a card catalogue, which for anyone under age 30 is little more than a piece of ungainly furniture. Counter to its supposed mission, I would argue that for the most part, the LH&AD is a actively dissuades exploration.

Despite a recent multi-million dollar renovation that showcases a first floor that is a tribute to technology (internet cafe-meets-DVD/video game shop, complete with self-check check-outs and bedazzled with flatscreen TVs and a rainbow-coloured LED light show), local heritage is imprisoned on atoms and gathering dust/. I cannot even begin to guess at the proportion of the collection bequeathed to the HPL that has not even made it to the card catalogue.

As Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." With our city's history secreted away, is hardly surprising that the status quo prevails so often.

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