How to build an Indigenous Digital Library through Community Participation: the case of the Ulwazi Programme

Presented at the SCECSAL Conference in Nairobi, Kenya (June 4-8, 2012) Abstract African Libraries and Information Centres are poorly equipped to make a meaningful contribution to the current global digital knowledge economy. The paucity of African stories and community information on the web predicates the limited role of heritage and […]

 •   •   •   •   •   •   •   • 

The Ulwazi Programme

The Ulwazi Programme is an initiative of the eThekwini Municipal Library to preserve the indigenous knowledge of local communities in the greater Durban area. This innovation, developed and implemented by the Software Applications Section of the Libraries, is based on a bottom-up model through which online indigenous knowledge resources are […]

 •   •   •   •   •   •   •   • 

Organization Highlight: The Ulwazi Programme

The Ulwazi Programme is several things: a collection of technologies, social initiatives and research endeavors. On one hand, it is an online community-sourced website database and informative blog. On the other hand, Ulwazi involves programmatic aspects such as the School’s Project, a certificate project for secondary school students. A wonderful […]

 •   •   •   •   • 

Some challenges for Information and Communication Technologies in Indigenous Knowledge preservation

Abstract Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are the basis for social appropriation in local communities. ICTs hold significant potential for positive benefits for local communities to deal with ‘digital’ connectivity and global knowledge contexts. With the digitalisation of knowledge, including indigenous knowledge (IK), ICTs are offering alternative perspectives of knowledge […]

 •   •   •   •   •   •   •   • 

The Power of Mobile Technology for the Exchange of Indigenous Knowledge

The Number in My Pocket: The Power of Mobile Technology for the Exchange of Indigenous Knowledge Betsie Greyling (with Ulwazi) and Niall McNulty presented a poster by this name at the The Third International m-libraries Conference (11-13 May 2011) in Brisbane, Australia. The poster outlines the Ulwazi Programme’s plans for […]

 •   •   •   •   • 

A model for community participation in African libraries to preserve Indigenous Knowledge

Before you begin reading the essay, you may wish to listen to Betsie Greyling talk about the Ulwazi Programme in this video: Abstract Africa and African libraries and information centres are poorly equipped to make a meaningful contribution to the current global digital knowledge economy. The lack of management systems […]

 •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •