IFLA Journal

This study maps the domain of indigenous librarianship. It conceives this field as constituted by theoretical, applied, and advocacy components. Indigeneity is theorized as an instrument that advances principles of indigenous rights in professional fields such as librarianship.

The study offers the prospect of a revision of the traditional theory of librarianship by applying to this theory a notion of “living knowledge,” which is prominent in indigenous scholarship. It overviews culturally sensitive practices of knowledge organization and management that constitute an applied component of indigenous librarianship.

This article considers how colonization has impacted on Indigenous knowledge systems. It discusses the issues that need to be addressed by institutions, library and information professionals, and professional associations to ensure that they are able to meet the needs of the Indigenous people in their communities. The article addresses why this transformation is required and outlines the issues that will need to be changed through a decolonization or indigenization process.

While there has been notable progress in indigenous-led initiatives related to visual representation, issues of access and misrepresentation still exist and require ongoing advocacy work. In the virtual space, libraries, archives, and museums have an opportunity to increase decolonization efforts through wider dissemination of these images, improved dynamic presentation tools, and better organization of their collections. Nonetheless, online spaces come with their own challenges related to intellectual property ethics, the digital divide, and funding. This article examines issues of representation, organization, and access to digital images, and the role of visual literacy in libraries.

There have been library services for indigenous peoples in Latin America since at least the 1980s; they are small-scale, very specific experiences that, until recent times, have been poorly systematized and scarcely discussed. Throughout their brief but intense history – a story that has been replicated in many other countries around the world, from Canada to New Zealand – these services have faced a series of crossroads, contradictions and conflicts that they have not always been able to resolve, from the controversial label ‘indigenous libraries’ to their scope and the categories and methodologies they use. From a first-person perspective (the author was among the first library and information science professionals to work with this topic in Latin America and has been active in the field for the last 20 years), this article briefly reviews the state of affairs in South America, pointing out the main milestones in the history of these services in the region. It identifies some concepts and ideas that require urgent discussion from both a library and information science and interdisciplinary framework, and suggests some paths to explore in the near future.

This commentary suggests a (k)new model for the practice of Indigenous librarianship that positions a traditional natural resource management system as a metaphor for library practices. By detailing the experiences of Native Hawaiian librarians working with materials and collections representing Hawaiian knowledge, the article discusses specific Hawaiian natural resource management principles (kapu, kūlana, waiwai, and lele), and explores their possible applications in library contexts. The result is a description of Hawaiian librarianship grounded in Hawaiian values and practices with the goal of best serving Hawaiian communities.

Libraries and archives are troubling spaces for Indigenous Australian people as they are sites of renewal and truth-telling as well as sites of deep tension. The topic of people’s cultural safety in libraries and archives is one that is being commonly discussed. However, limited research has been undertaken on the topic to reveal the issues and concerns of people who work on the front line in these institutions. This article discusses the dangers of libraries and archives for Indigenous Australian workers by introducing doctoral research on the topic of Indigenous archiving and cultural safety: Examining the role of decolonisation and self-determination in libraries and archives. The aim of the article is to bring greater visibility to the voice and experiences of Indigenous Australian people who are working to facilitate access to collections in libraries and archives.

This article discusses the role of the academic library in contributing to the reconciliation process in Australia through the lens of James Cook University. Reconciliation in this context is defined as the process to bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian peoples to overcome the gap that exists between them. Two of James Cook University’s campuses are located in North Queensland, an area with a high Indigenous population. It has in place a Reconciliation Action Plan and Statement of Strategic Intent, which provide a clear statement supporting its Indigenous students and staff. This article focuses on the participation of James Cook University Library and Information Service in the university’s reconciliation goals through four broad areas of interest: procurement, engagement, staffing, and information literacy training. Of particular note is the naming of the Townsville Campus library – the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library – in recognition of Mabo’s connection with James Cook University, marking the significance of the role this Indigenous man played in Australia’s history.

Indigenous knowledge has received considerable attention in Sudan, as it is deeply rooted in the sociocultural life. Librarians, as facilitators of learning, have an essential role to play in indigenous knowledge management in the country. The objective of this article is to assess Sudanese librarians’ awareness of indigenous knowledge and to examine their roles in its management and preservation. The research also identifies the major obstacles that face indigenous knowledge management, and the role of information and communication technology in its management. Additionally, the research assesses the major changes needed to develop a successful national indigenous knowledge strategy. Structured questionnaires and four semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The findings show that Sudanese librarians believe libraries have a role to play in indigenous knowledge management. The article proposes some relevant recommendations to enhance the role of librarians in indigenous knowledge management in Sudan.

This article is part of a larger study which explored the integration of indigenous knowledge into public library services in South Africa in an endeavour to enhance their relevance. Four purposefully selected provincial library services comprised the sample for the study. Semi- structured interviews with heads of provincial library services were conducted to collect data. The data was analysed thematically. The results show that indigenous knowledge has not been integrated into public libraries, despite the expressed need identified by the participants. A framework that identifies stakeholders and their responsibilities, as well as envisaged outcomes for the integration of indigenous knowledge, is proposed. Similar studies are recommended for further research in order to customise the proposed framework, given the fact that the participants in the study from which the article is extracted were heads of library services who did not work directly with communities.

The Saskatchewan Aboriginal Storytelling project is a month-long event in Saskatchewan, Canada, which celebrates the lives, histories, practices and cultures of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and non-Status peoples through storytelling. The Library Services for Saskatchewan Aboriginal Peoples committee oversees the project and employs a coordinator, who applies for grants, coordinates the project’s guidelines, and is the contact for site funding and event reporting. Since its launch in 2004, the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Storytelling project has grown significantly and has effectively promoted traditional storytelling, supported a network of Aboriginal storytellers, and helped to create stronger relationships between Aboriginal peoples and libraries. The Saskatchewan Aboriginal Storytelling project is a dynamic methodological and theoretical model for decolonizing library spaces, programmes and collections through celebrating Aboriginal oral traditions.

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture opened the “Pacific Voices” exhibition in 1997, a community-led exhibition of Indigenous cultures throughout the Pacific Rim, including Māori. Twenty years later, Nicola Andrews, a Ngāti Pāoa Māori student at the University of Washington, serendipitously visited the Burke and began collaborating with the museum to reframe taonga (treasure, anything prized) descriptions in its catalogue and physical spaces. The Burke collection also includes 962 Māori photographs spanning the 19th century, which were removed from Aotearoa New Zealand and donated to the museum in 1953. These photographs had been digitized but not published, and the museum had almost no identifying information about their subjects. This article describes what is perhaps the first attempt in over six decades to identify the rangatira (chief, person of high rank) depicted in these images, and ways for the Burke to honor the tūpuna (ancestors) and taonga in its care as it prepared to open a new location in late 2019.

Nigerian public libraries play important roles in enabling the collation and sustainability of communities’ indigenous knowledge. This article is a case study of the activities, services and challenges of sustaining cultural heritage in the Anambra State Library Board. The study involved qualitative research, with physical visits, observation techniques and interviews for data collection. The researchers found that the public library has a cultural heritage section with various indigenous items displayed with their local names. The staff are involved in several activities designed to create effective cultural services. The Library Board organizes an annual cultural festival and talk shows, traditional dance, indigenous skills acquisition, storytelling, Igbo language readingand spelling bee. These programmes are developed in consultation and collaboration with community members, the media and the Nigerian Library Association. The challenges include problems of collation, damage, conservation and preservation. It is recommended that Nigerian public libraries should acquire more indigenous resources and conserve local items in digital collections.