From the early 1900s to the present, audio recording technology has undergone several major advancements. From vinyl records to magnetic tape to optical disc and most recently magnetic disc drive and Flash memory. With a recent $150,000 grant, Sealaska Heritage Institute will take advantage the mobility and ease of accessibility granted by digital audio to offer modern-day Native language students and scholars decades-old recordings of spoken Tlingit language.

Modern digital audio listeners can store recordings in a vast array of file formats — WAV, MP3, WMA, AAC among others — and play their recordings on computers, digital audio players and smart phones. While audiophiles continue to search out vinyl records for high quality sound, the ability to store hundreds of digital songs on a device that fits in a shirt pocket and to transfer digital copies over the Internet has major advantages in accessibility.

Sealaska’s two-year grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services will allow the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultural institute to update more than 100 recordings, said Zachary Jones, Sealaska Heritage Institute archivist. Sealaska will make these digital recordings accessible online.

“We’re very excited about this grant because it not only helps us with our archival collections, but it also helps us with our language,” Jones said.

Fluent Tlingit speakers will work with Sealaska to assess the content of the recordings, some of which date from the early 1900s, Jones said. “It will help document the content of [the recordings] in great detail right down to the clan or clan-house level if possible,” he said.

The grant will also fund partnerships between Sealaska Heritage Institute and the University of Alaska on internships and file sharing.

• Contact reporter Russell Stigall at 523-2276.