“Work in Progress” – SCOLMA’s 2026 Online Seminar Series

We’re pleased to launch the first seminar in SCOLMA’s 2026 Online Seminar Series “Work in Progress” – ‘African Literary Accessibility through Linked Open Metadata’.

This presentation will illustrate how the ALMEDA project is addressing the problem of insufficient visibility of African expressive cultures in catalogues, primarily because of the informal ways in which African print, audio, video, and digital works have been circulated, read, viewed, and collected.

When: Wednesday June 10th – 13:00-14:00 BST, online.

Please find the Eventbrite registration link here do share with your networks where appropriate. Space is limited so get your ticket today!

This is also posted on our LinkedIn and BlueSky if you want to re-share it or send it to colleagues.

The broader series of 3 FREE and ONLINE seminars focuses on decolonial projects that are ongoing in library and archive collections on Africa. Doing collaborative and engaged work can be difficult and slow. The processes often raise useful but challenging conversations between collections holders and stakeholders, between different forms of expertise, across international borders and structural disadvantage, and sometimes even within institutions where practices and expectations need to re-align.

Seminars are on Wednesdays from 13:00-14:00 BST (also called GMT+1):

• June 10th: ALMEDA project: ‘African Literary Accessibility through Linked Open Metadata’ – Ashleigh Harris (Uppsala University) and Ursula Oberst (Africa Studies Centre, Leiden)
• June 24th: Archives in Action project – exploring obstacles to accessing African-related archives in the UK, and archives in West Africa – Jarad Zimbler (King’s College, London) and colleagues.
• July 8th: Authors Mary Poole and Meitamei Olol Dapash on the collaborative work involved in bridging Maasai oral tradition and colonial archives to interrogate and build new foundations for Maasai heritage.

Looking forward to seeing you at some or all of the seminars!

Ben Carson, on behalf of the SCOLMA Committee