The Language of Cataloguing: Deconstructing and Decolonizing Systems of Organization in Libraries

This paper analyzes the language of cataloguing because the information that librarians and other information professionals provide to others has a huge impact both on how others are viewed and how others view themselves. This ultimately comes down to the way in which words are given meaning and interpreted according […]

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People, Place and Community Memory: Creating Digital Heritage Databases in Remote Aboriginal Communities

In this paper I describe the Northern Territory Library’s, Libraries and Knowledge Centres program and examine some of the ways that digital technologies are being used to improve local access to archival materials in remote Australian Aboriginal communities. The development of community heritage databases gives some communities the opportunity toconstruct […]

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ICTs for Indigenous Knowledge Preservation

Public libraries in South Africa engage with local communities to preserve indigenous knowledge. This involves teaching them to use ICT tools. Indigenous knowledge affects the well-being of the majority of people in developing countries. Some 80% of the world’s population depends on indigenous knowledge to meet their medicinal needs, and […]

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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 […]

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Access and Control of Indigenous Knowledge in Libraries and Archives: Ownership & Future Use

Abstract Last year, a friend of mine from a remote community in Arnhem Land, in northern Australia, came down to Canberra to look through various collections that pertained to his community and his clan, the Gupapyngu people. (The trip takes a day and a half by plane.) This material had […]

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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 […]

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Memory Technologies: Indigenous Knowledge and ICT Design

As Indigenous communities endeavor to maintain their traditional ways of knowing, many are turning to information and communication technologies (ICTs) to sustain and stimulate their Indigenous knowledge. They are using analog and digital video and audio recording devices as well as a constellation of computer and Internet-related technologies, to capture, […]

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