The South Asian Canadian Digital Archive is committed to documenting, digitizing, and preserving the rich and diverse histories of South Asian communities across Canada. By gathering stories, records, photographs, and other cultural materials, SACDA seeks to create an inclusive archival space that reflects the lived experiences of South Asians in Canada—past and present.
As part of this work, SACDA has developed a custom metadata schema tailored to the needs of this community. The schema is grounded in established standards such as Rules for Archival Description (RAD) and the Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS). SACDA’s metadata work also incorporates established vocabularies such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and the Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM).
However, while widely adopted, LCSH falls short in accurately representing many aspects of South Asian culture, identity, and heritage. In response to these limitations, SACDA has developed localized thesauri—community-specific vocabularies that more accurately capture the nuances of South Asian Canadian lived experiences.
Click here to read the full article on the South Asian Canadian Digital Archive.