Nelson Mandela archives, letters go online in Google-backed project
Thousands of letters, photographs
and documents relating to former South African President Nelson Mandela went online Tuesday to help people find out about his struggle for freedom.
Items including letters Mandela wrote to his family that were smuggled out of prison, his Methodist church
membership card from about 80 years ago and hand-written diaries have been digitized and laid out on a website designed to look like a museum exhibit. "The one thing that it does immediately is make a much sought-after legacy available to the world," Achmat Dangor, the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela
Foundation, said. The project, with an initial cost of $3 million, was put together by the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and the Google Cultural Institute.
It is a first for Internet giant Google, which has made sure the material is open to all and original copyright
holders keep their rights.
Google is planning to use this project as a springboard to bring more content online from other historical
figures of the 20th century. Google has been criticized for trying to use its technological might to wall off material from rivals.
"You can interact with the content. You can search the content. Although we have mimicked the museum
experience, we are now in a place where we think we have augmented the experience," Mark Yoshitake, who leads project management for the Google Cultural Institute, said.
Sections such as "Presidential Years" include photos with links to videos, text, personal notes and testimonials laid out for use with typical computers and tablets.
Ndileka Mandela, the granddaughter of the former president, said he has always been a progressive person and was elated by the online archive.
"As much as we would like to claim him as our grandfather, he is a public figure. The publishing of the
letters he wrote to various family members is not really a problem because it shows people that he is a human being," she said.
Mandela, 93, underwent a keyhole abdominal examination last month that showed nothing was wrong with the man awarded the Nobel Peace Prize or helping bring down white-minority apartheid rule in South Africa. "For a man his age, he is doing well. He hasn't lost his sense of humor," Ndileka Mandela said.
and documents relating to former South African President Nelson Mandela went online Tuesday to help people find out about his struggle for freedom.
Items including letters Mandela wrote to his family that were smuggled out of prison, his Methodist church
membership card from about 80 years ago and hand-written diaries have been digitized and laid out on a website designed to look like a museum exhibit. "The one thing that it does immediately is make a much sought-after legacy available to the world," Achmat Dangor, the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela
Foundation, said. The project, with an initial cost of $3 million, was put together by the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and the Google Cultural Institute.
It is a first for Internet giant Google, which has made sure the material is open to all and original copyright
holders keep their rights.
Google is planning to use this project as a springboard to bring more content online from other historical
figures of the 20th century. Google has been criticized for trying to use its technological might to wall off material from rivals.
"You can interact with the content. You can search the content. Although we have mimicked the museum
experience, we are now in a place where we think we have augmented the experience," Mark Yoshitake, who leads project management for the Google Cultural Institute, said.
Sections such as "Presidential Years" include photos with links to videos, text, personal notes and testimonials laid out for use with typical computers and tablets.
Ndileka Mandela, the granddaughter of the former president, said he has always been a progressive person and was elated by the online archive.
"As much as we would like to claim him as our grandfather, he is a public figure. The publishing of the
letters he wrote to various family members is not really a problem because it shows people that he is a human being," she said.
Mandela, 93, underwent a keyhole abdominal examination last month that showed nothing was wrong with the man awarded the Nobel Peace Prize or helping bring down white-minority apartheid rule in South Africa. "For a man his age, he is doing well. He hasn't lost his sense of humor," Ndileka Mandela said.
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