“Challenges to Libraries… in the Management of Works of Indigenous Communities”

Reactions to the fourth panel of the Traditional Cultural Expression Conference, “Challenges to Libraries and Archives in the Management of Works of Indigenous Communities”, are available at ALA Inside Scoop.

Of particular interest is discussion of ‘knowledge management system[s]‘ that conserve and organize the creations of indigenous peoples within a framework that honors the communities’ practices for access to knowledge.

Groups of people deemed ‘indigenous’, ‘ethnic’, or ‘traditional’ are not the only societies that have rules for who is allowed to know, and what information can be known.  In his essay ‘The Google Dilemma,’ James Grimmelmann outlines five cases in which Google’s homegrown page ranking system determines how users come to know things, and what things they come to know.  In many cases, Google is working in partnership with State agencies to organize information and to determine what kinds of information people can access.

I think that librarians and archivists participating in discussions of how to responsibly collect, conserve, and manage the creations of indigenous communities is a very positive development; I also recognize that there are challenges and concerns relating to these materials that are unique from the other materials with which librarians, archivists, and their patrons work.

However, let’s not, by any means, assume that indigenous communities are the only groups who ‘limit’ access to their materials based on traditionally held values.

Access to information is the cumbersome, loaded phrase that it has become because it means something different in every instance it is used -

from searching Google,

to accessing the tapes of the Zunni storytelling collection.

Furthering the information ownership debate: ALA and the World Intellectual Property Organization

I found this post about the invitational Traditional Cultural Expression Conference to be a provocative twist in the information ownership debate that has arisen around OCLC’s new Policy (see “Final ‘Policy for Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records’ Posted by OCLC”).

I look forward to following the discussion of the first keynote speech, presented by Wend Wendland, who is “head of the Traditional Creativity, Cultural Expressions, and Cultural Heritage Section of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).”  While the dialogue started at the issue of international copyright, it soon

‘leaped from folk art to questions about who owns the rights to ancient human remains and to a definition of “genetic resources”’ .

Even more interesting -

Carrie Russel of the ALA Washington Office sees a need for librarians to be involved with WIPO and to take part in global conversations about intellectual property.  Since the content of this conference seems to be focusing so far on indigenous communities’ expression and creation, Russel sees a role for librarians in helping indigenous communities identify, collect, conserve, and share their intellectual property.  (With a B.A. in anthropology and hopes of earning my MLIS in the near future, this topic is the fulcrum of many of my personal and professional interests.)

I’m a really looking forward to this upcoming discussion: “Challenges to Libraries and Archives in the Management of Works of Indigenous Communities.”