Navigating respectful practice to support indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights in Australian libraries
- Publisher:
- De Gruyter
- Publication Type:
- Chapter
- Citation:
- Navigating Copyright for Libraries: Purpose and Scope, 2022, pp. 440-466
- Issue Date:
- 2022-08-22
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Concerns for the appropriate protection and management of Indigenous people's heritage materials held in Australian cultural institutions is increasing. Across the galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) sector, many institutions are beginning to examine ways to redress and reconcile tensions that have resulted from the long histories of imperial and colonial expansion across the world. Libraries are reflecting on their roles in the dislocation and dispersal of cultural heritage materials from Indigenous peoples and communities. Indigenous peoples worldwide face an inability to control their cultural heritage materials held in collecting institutions, and the existing legal frameworks do not support Indigenous people's aspirations and self-determination. The inadequacy of existing legal frameworks relates to ownership, moral rights and copyright. This chapter discusses the protection of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) rights in relation to libraries, focusing on Australia's current approaches to ICIP in the library sector. It outlines key literature concerning the protection of Indigenous people's rights to culture and heritage and provides a broad context to the challenges of working with cultural heritage materials and past collecting practices which lacked an ethical basis and informed consent. The gaps concerning the application of ICIP in the library sector are identified along with the need for further research. The chapter presents examples of good practice in building support for the use of appropriate ICIP rights in Australia and provides instances of how information professionals have navigated the protection of ICIP rights across the wide range of collecting institutions in Australia, including public, academic and special libraries, and galleries, archives and museums. Principles for navigating respectful practice in ICIP rights in Australian libraries are provided for use by information professionals. Four case studies on projects in the galleries, libraries, archives and museums sector are provided to demonstrate what can be achieved.
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