20 Sept 2007 - ‘Voice of Time’ Goes Online
The past and future will come together with the launch of a project to put a unique collection of recorded interviews with some of the descendants of Coffs Harbour's pioneering families and oldest residents onto the internet.
"This is an irreplaceable archive of the city's earliest history and a very valuable resource for historians now and into the future," said Coffs Harbour Mayor Councillor Keith Rhoades. "Making it accessible via digital format and the internet means more people than ever can make use of these recordings and ensure they will last, hopefully, for ever," he said.
The 'Voice of Time' audio collection was gathered in 1988 as part of the Bicentennial celebrations. It features the voices of 150 descendants of the area's first European settlers and other long-time residents of the city.
The recordings cover a huge number of events and recollections of daily life in the Coffs Harbour area including the famous day the lions escaped from the travelling zoo, the Depression era, flooding events in the 1920s and 1950s, school life, the banana industry's beginnings and memories of the city's more colourful characters.
The original recordings were gathered on audio tape and Council's Library and Information Service has been working for some years to put the collection into digital formats to ensure its longevity. Grants were obtained from the Royal Australian Historical Society and the Library Council of NSW to fund the project. The audio recordings have now been converted to both music CD format (WAV files) and MP3 files.
Selections of the MP3 recordings have now also been put onto the Library's online records system and they can be accessed via the Library website at www.coffsharbour.nsw.gov.au/citylibrary. CDs of the full collection are kept at Coffs Harbour City Library where they can be used for research.
"Putting the collection into digital formats was all about making sure it was preserved for future generations and also to allow as many people as possible access to these fascinating glimpses into Coffs Harbour's earliest years," said Librarian Enzo Accadia.
