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Bulletin of the Office
for Diversity American Library
Association ISSN
1554-494X |
MARCH - APRIL 2006 ISSUE
BOOKLOOK
Book Review: Australian Indigenous Knowledge
and Libraries Karen
Underhill
Australian Indigenous Knowledge and
Libraries Edited by Martin Nakata and Marcia
Langton. Canberra, Australia: Australian
Academic & Research Libraries, 2005.
(Co-published as Australian Academic & Research
Libraries, vol. 36, no. 2, June 2005). 216
pp. Available from the Australian Library and
Information Association, $29.95 AUD or the University
of Technology, Sydney ePress home page: <http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/>http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/
(Summer 2006). ISBN 0 86804 563 2.
Since the early 1990s, issues surrounding
Indigenous culture have generated global discussion
and recognition of different approaches to
the management, preservation, and dissemination of
intangible and tangible heritage. As Professor
Martin Nakata-director of the Jumbunna
Indigenous House of Learning, University of
Technology, Sydney-notes, these complex issues have
profound implications for libraries and archives as
stewards of Indigenous knowledge. He believes
the information professions have “responded with
great goodwill.” In the words of anthropologist
Michael F. Brown (Who Owns Native Culture?), how
should we promote “respectful treatment of native
cultures and indigenous forms of self-expression
within mass societies?”
In 2004, Nakata and Professor Marcia Langton, Chair
of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of
Melbourne, set out to address the future of
Australian Indigenous knowledge vis-à-vis
libraries. A colloquium, co-sponsored with the
State Library of New South Wales, formed the basis
for this publication, which includes sixteen chapters
and nineteen authors--nine of whom are
Indigenous.
This compilation explores the intersection of
Indigenous knowledge and the information professions
in the broadest sense, from the traditional
and cultural to local and contemporary. Human
rights themes are echoed throughout the text.
The book covers five major areas:
Indigenous knowledge in Australia and the world; the
politics of Indigenous knowledge; intellectual and
cultural property rights; Indigenous knowledge
centers; and Indigenous knowledge and archives.
The writing styles and content of the chapters are
varied. The authors offer a refreshing mix of
the theoretical and practical. A
strong introduction, cogent first and last chapters
which frame the issues, and a thoughtful “Afterword”
compensate for the diverse nature of the
individual pieces.
The topics can be disquieting. Can libraries
and archives entertain differential levels of access
to sacred or secret Indigenous knowledge based on
age, gender, initiate status, and role? How can
extant records be annotated or modified to reflect
Indigenous concerns? How could intellectual
property laws be expanded to recognize Indigenous
communal ownership of knowledge?
Librarians hold dear the concept of intellectual
freedom and shy away from the notion that knowledge
can be “owned” or that access may be a
privilege rather than a right. Dagmar
Schmidmaier, State Librarian of New South Wales,
advises all of us to move beyond our “comfort zones.”
Collectively, the authors urge librarians and
archivists “to understand the complexities of meeting
the needs of Indigenous people, but also go further to
question assumptions and an ‘unsettling of
established practice.’”
Unlike some authors who lament “irreconcilable views
of information,” the Australian writers are more
optimistic in their attempts to find common ground
and, in Langton’s words, to put aside the “absurd
presumption of Western supremacy over other
societies.” Dr. Alex Byrne observes in
his “Afterword” that “we have a shared commitment to
the preservation and transmission of knowledge” and
points to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. The right to know can be balanced
with respect and autonomy.
The ground-breaking work captured in Australian
Indigenous Knowledge and Libraries can serve as a
model for comparable dialogue in the
United States. Tribal leaders, archivists, and
librarians in North America have expressed interest
in exploring ways to engage in joint stewardship.
There are many opportunities for institutions which
hold Native American knowledge to cooperate with
communities of origin.
As Nakata and Langton write, “Indigenous people are
at the heart of this matter. The development of
practice in this complex intersection must
have legitimacy with Indigenous people and
communities.” The lesson to be gleaned from
this text for American librarians and archivists engaged
in collecting, preserving, and making available
Indigenous knowledge is to remain focused on human
rights and to embrace the power of
conversation, collaboration, education, and
negotiation.
Australian Indigenous Knowledge and Libraries is a
well-used component of my personal library, as the
number of coffee stains on the book’s fore-edge will
attest!
Karen J. Underhill is Head, Special Collections
and Archives at Northern Arizona University's Cline
Library.
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