Dear DHASA community,

Over at the University of Cape Town, we are hosting a series of webinars (Ibali Iindaba) where we talk about how we have implemented Omeka S as our institutional digital collections showcase platform. The platform, which hosts a number of digital humanities projects, is called Ibali and can be found at https://ibali.uct.ac.za. If you want to hear about how we manage the platform, new collections we have launched and some of the tech and metadata behind them, you are most invited to join us for any or all of the sessions. Our session from last month, where we did a an overview of the platform, is available here.

All times for the sessions are South African Standard Time and are available to everyone. You can read more below and book your virtual seat through the link.

We look forward to seeing your avatar there,
Sanjin from Digital Scholarship Services at UCT

FAIR, Open Access and Ownership on Ibali: Digital Collections UCT

When: Thursday, October 23, 2025 @ 14:00
In celebration of International Open Access Week, this session explores how Ibali collections strive toward FAIR and Open Access principles. We’ll look at the technical and procedural steps that make our collections more findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable, and discuss how creating these sites fosters community engagement. We’ll also tackle this year’s theme: Who owns the showcase sites on Ibali, and what does ownership mean in a digital space?
Register: https://uct.ac.za.libcal.com/calendar/libraryevents/ibali-2025-02

Can Omeka serve as DAMS? Lessons learned from Ibali: Digital Collections UCT

When: Thursday, November 20, 2025 @ 12:00
Omeka S powers Ibali as a showcase platform—but could it also function as a Digital Asset Management System (DAMS)? In this session, we share our experiments in configuring Omeka S to manage UCT Libraries’ digital assets. We’ll walk through what worked, what didn’t, and what we learned along the way. If you’ve ever wondered whether Omeka can go beyond showcasing, this session is for you.
Link: Can Omeka serve as DAMS? Lessons learned from Ibali: Digital Collections UCT - UCT Libraries on LibCal - University of Cape Town

Welcome to the family, a Tour of the New Sites on Ibali Digital Collections UCT

Tuesday, December 9, 2025 @ 12:00
To wrap up our 2025 Ibali Indaba mini-series, we’re taking you on a tour of the newest sites launched this year. Meet the developers, hear about their creative process, and explore the design choices, modules, and workflows that brought these collections to life. From CSV imports to custom layouts, this session is all about celebrating the latest additions to the Ibali family.
Link: Welcome to the family, a Tour of the New Sites on Ibali Digital Collections UCT - UCT Libraries on LibCal - University of Cape Town

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