Linguistic and Ethnographic Sound Recordings from Early Twentieth-Century California: Optical Scanning, Digitization & Access
Division of Preservation and Access
Berkeley Indigenous Language Project.
Courtesy of University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley Indigenous Language Project.
Courtesy of University of California, Berkeley.
The University of California, Berkeley aims to use the innovative technique of non-contact optical scanning, to create digital versions of the audio recorded on the nearly 3000 wax cylinders in the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology collection over a total of three years. Many of the languages recorded on the cylinders have transformed, fallen out of use, or are no longer spoken at all, making this collection a unique and invaluable resource for linguists and contemporary community members hoping to learn about or revitalize languages, or retrieve important pieces of cultural heritage.