When I joined the Compass accounts section some 20-plus years ago. Brian Uzzell (the then-owner/publisher) asked me to try and get the receivables in better shape and to keep an eye on our payables.
Payables were relatively straightforward: I would collect all the outstanding bills and take them to the appropriate department-heads for their written approval.
Once a week, the approved invoices were taken to Brian for his instruction to pay or not.
The receivables aspect was not quite so simple to resolve. Our credit terms have always been 30 days, so not receiving payment for a bill for months puts huge pressure on our cash flow, and therefore our ability to stay in business.
In 2003, the Compass printed my first book on the ‘History of the Cayman Islands Post Offices’; word got around about my history interest, with the result that people started asking me questions on Cayman’s history.
At the Compass, we had Carol Winker and Karen Ryan, who were very knowledgeable and helpful with this subject.
Archivist role
The Legges bought the Compass in 2013, then, subsequently, under James Bergstrom’s ownership, publisher Kathleen Capetta tasked me with looking into digitalisation of the Compass newspapers.
It quickly became apparent that this would be a very expensive project. Consequently, it was kept on the backburner, but not forgotten. With the purchase by Dart Media and Entertainment in recent times, new resources were available, and very quickly the process of digitalising not only the newspaper, but also part of the photographic archive, got under way.
As the archivist, I have to organise, collect and maintain/preserve the collection, and provide information or access as required.
This development has not only saved irreplaceable, fragile newspapers and photographs in the long term, but it will provide a huge research resource for current and future generations of Caymanians and persons worldwide.
The negatives from the photographic archive covering the period 1983 to 1994 were shipped to California, where they were cleaned, scanned and then returned to us.
More than 300,000 photographs are now being ‘tagged’ (identified) and, to date, around 1,200 are available to view on our TimeBack website timeback.ky.
The newspaper digitalisation was another massive project which entailed removing by hand the papers from their binders, then cutting each page so it could then be scanned and tagged.
People will be able to search, read and download the entire newspaper archive, free, through our website.
Having seen the prototype, I can safely say that our readers will really appreciate the quality and accessibility of this soon-to-be-launched tool.
Best of both worlds
From a working viewpoint, I now have the best of both worlds; I enjoy the challenge of my credit controller duties, and, as the archivist, I organise, collect and maintain/preserve the collection, as well as providing information or access as required.
To date, the archives have only partially been opened; each day brings forth new discoveries in old files, drawers, boxes etc. and requests from persons – not always from Cayman – for information, photographs or just a chat. My day is never boring.
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