ABOUT THE PROJECТ

Currently, much attention is paid to the problems of digitization of archival materials. Special difficulties arise when we try to preserve the folklore heritage. The reasons for these difficulties are the information vacuum and the lack of common approaches of description of archival materials. Each folklore collection of any institution is faced with the choice of development of its own approaches to systematization and storage of materials. The lack of the complex of methodological materials on folklore archivistics makes this work extremely difficult. In such conditions, the experience of other folklore archives that have started the process of converting of their materials into digital format and systematization of the funds based on electronic programs is extremely important. One of the ongoing projects in this area is the development of the Electronic Depository on the folklore of the Ob Ugric and Samoyed peoples. This resource is intended to contribute to the preservation and revival of the language and spiritual culture of the indigenous peoples of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra: the Khanty, the Mansi, and the Nenets. According to the classification of UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, the Khanty, Mansi and the Forest Nenets languages are listed as severely endangered, since the old generation (grandparents) speaks their native language, the generation of parents still understands it, but does not communicate in it between themselves and children. In such situation, the role of scientific and educational institutions, that are designed to become centers for the preservation and translation of native languages, is very important. Such the institution in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra is Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Researches and Development (Khanty-Mansiysk). The project was nominated for the all-Russian public award "Key word" for preservation of language diversity and won this competition in the category "Best multimedia project". The award was presented at the forum-dialogue "Language policy: all-Russian expertise" organized by the Federal Agency for Nationalities. It should be noted that a huge role in the creation of folklore archives in the Okrug belongs to the Hungarian researcher, PhD Eva Adamovna Schmidt. Thanks to her energy and enthusiasm, the first scientific and folklore archive of the Northern Khanty in Yugra was created in Beloyarsky in 1991. Local employees with a good command of the native language were involved in the work. Employees of the archive had recorded a huge amount of audio and video materials during its work. The archival fund of Eva Schmidt alone has 400 hours of video records and 300 hours of audio records. In the next years, the folklore archives were opened in Khanty-Mansiysk, Beryozovo, Surgutsky and Nizhnevartovsky Districts. These archives are now the branches of the Folklore Center of Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Researches and Development. They are designed to study, collect, and store the intangible cultural heritage of the indigenous peoples of Yugra. During the 25-year period of the Institute's activity, it was possible to collect and record a large number of songs, fairy tales, legends, myths, beliefs, information about holidays and customs in the languages of the Ob-Ugric peoples. Over 3,700 hours of audio records are stored and processed in the folklore archive of the Institute. In order to systematization of folklore materials, the complex automated archive and museum information system KAMIS 2000 was introduced. It was developed by the KAMIS Company in Saint Petersburg. Particularly the program was adapted for systematization of folklore collections. It allows creating an electronic database on folklore, systematizing and organizing the storage of archival funds. The program includes text, audio, video records and pictures of collected materials. The program archives new materials; it allows keeping an end-to-end accounting of receipt and issuance of materials for study; it provides a quick search and receipt of various references starting from any fairy tale and ending with biographies of informants. All work in the KAMIS program (creation of the index cards, folklore material, creation of acceptance reports, etc.) is performed by employees of the Folklore Center, including its branches. On the base of the working version the information and reference system has been introduced. It allows Internet users to get acquainted with the intangible cultural heritage of the indigenous peoples of Yugra in real time. All fund materials are divided into six main types of collections: 1) fund of audio cassettes; 2) fund of video cassettes; 3) fund of photos; 4) fund of disks; 5) documentary fund; 6) fund of electronic copies. The fund of audio cassettes stores audio materials. The fund of video cassettes stores video materials that are systematically subjected to digitization. All materials converted into electronic format are transferred to the fund of electronic copies. Decrypted materials (monuments of folklore) and their translations in the Russian language are stored in the documentary fund. This fund also contains field diaries, records, published and unpublished scientific works on languages, culture and history of the indigenous peoples of Yugra collected during the twenty-five-year period of work of Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Researches and Development. The program allows creating a lot of used reference lists such as "informants", "collectors", "authors of decryptions and translations", "languages and dialects", "publications", "geographical reference" and many others. A special pride is the formed card file about informants (carriers and performers of the Ob-Ugric peoples). The database of carriers of Ob-Ugric and Samoyed folklore contains more than 600 names. Unfortunately, the part of carriers of folklore does not have detailed information. Some collectors did not record detailed biographies on audio. Obviously, this information was fixed on paper – in the diaries of expeditions or other documents and inventories. At present, it is extremely difficult to identify a carrier's biography. A card of an informant contains information about a place and year of birth of a carrier of folklore, language and dialect, place of work, contact information. The next page contains a biography, information about an informant's parents, information about education, and the degree of proficiency in a native language. The third page contains passport data. The fourth page contains information about publications and published literature about a carrier of folklore. The fifth page contains all the links to cassettes, discs, and the documentary fund. The last page is accompanied by images of this carrier of folklore (the number of photos is not limited). It should be noted that full information about informants is available only to employees of the Folklore Center. The largest fund is the fund of digital records. A unit of information storage in this fund is one folklore work (a fairy tale, a song, a riddle, a bailichka, an omen, a spell, etc.), for which one index card is formed. It contains all comprehensive information on this monument of folklore: a name of work of folklore, name of a carrier, language and dialect, time and place of recording, name of an author of decryption and translation, a sound file, decryption, translation, information about graphics, data volume, a short abstract, information about an author of a card, information about an editor of a card, changes of a card and attached pictures. The main principle is to give complete and full information about both a folklore work and a folklore carrier. Similarly, index cards are filled in in the fund of digital video recordings and in the fund of digital photos. It should be noted that this version is available only for employees of the Folklore Center, who fill in the database on the results of business trips and expeditions. Version for Internet users – the Electronic Depository on the folklore of the Ob Ugric and Samoyed peoples – presents selected, systematized, and edited material. The implementation of this module allows providing mass access of users (students, postgraduates, native language teachers) to the intangible cultural heritage of the indigenous peoples of Yugra. Main opportunities of the information resource: 1. Access to a selected folklore work or the entire collection via a browser; 2. Effective search mechanisms in the catalog (contextual, by category, by separate fields); 3. Display of brief or detailed information about the monuments of folklore; 4. Viewing of an enlarged picture protected by watermarks and linked to a folklore work; 5. Placing of links in social networks. The index card of one folklore work includes format (audio file), name, performer and collector (with information about the year and place of birth), language and dialect, place of recording, time of recording, folklore genre, total sound time, brief abstract, author of the decryption and translation, and a list of publications with a link to this folklore work. Every folklore work has a fragment of a recording, decryption of the recording in the Khanty language, its translation into the Russian, photos of authors, performers and collectors of this folklore work. We can add new photos, drawings or other pictures related to this folklore work. For today, more than 1000 folklore works of the indigenous peoples of Yugra are available in the electronic resource. It should be noted the attitude of employees of the Folklore Center to the information resource. The project is being developed exclusively by representatives of the indigenous peoples of Yugra who speak their native languages. This is, in fact, the last generation speaking and writing in their native language. According to folk traditions, the Electronic Depository on the folklore had received the so-called "family status". The Center's employees call the resource as KAMIS-Uncle (KAMIS-Aki). In this case we can say that the storage of the spiritual wealth of the people by the carriers of culture is spiritualized, endowed with human properties, colossal energy. It indicates a respectful treatment to this resource. In this regard, the employees of the Folklore Center note the extraordinary power and need to perform a certain ritual in the process of creation of index cards for folklore works, especially if these materials are related to the sacred rites of the Ob Ugric and Samoyed peoples. Thus, it can be argued that the traditional worldview and ancient ideas about the surrounding world of the indigenous peoples of Yugra are also transferred to electronic methods of translation of the intangible cultural heritage of the Ob Ugric and Samoyed peoples. With the implementation of this project in Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Researches and Development, there is a growing understanding in society that the representation of the indigenous languages of Yugra in cyberspace will promote to include these languages in general information field, raising the prestige and importance of learning of languages of ancestors in order to form a sustainable interest to them. At the same time, realization of this project changes the view at folklore collections – from a closed storage to information space. It allows revealing all treasures of the ancient peoples to the whole world, involving a wide range of visitors to the rich cultural heritage of the indigenous peoples of Yugra.

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