Tag Archives: decolonizing libraries

M3, P5: Reconciliation and the Canadian Federation of Library Associations

Library & Literacy Services for Indigenous (First Nations, Métis & Inuit) Peoples of Canada Position Statement

The Canadian Federation of Library Association represents library and information professionals from across Canada, from public, academic, and special libraries. The CFLA has been committed to developing policies and position papers to provide best practices and guidance on all issues related to libraries. The Committee on Indigenous Matters develops plans, policies, and position papers to help libraries address and implement TRC Calls to Action, implement the CFLA Truth & Reconciliation report recommendations, promote learning opportunities and engagement with colleagues. CFLA collaborates with Indigenous peoples to address library, archival, and cultural memory issues and engage in reconciliation. They use a medicine wheel to represent the working groups and their priority areas; they prepare materials, PD, policies, and position papers; and they promote courses and learning opportunities for library and information professionals.

For my final project, I want to create an action plan for my library and the CFLA policies and positions will help develop the strategic foundation necessary for a well-designed, professionally-sound strategic plan. My library serves people from across Canada, so having a less immediately local and more cross-country approved approach would best inform my planning process.

M3, P4: Traditional Knowledge Licenses

Most post-secondary learners and staff are familiar (or are becoming increasingly familiar) with license labels for materials (e.g., CC, CC-NC, CCbySA). TK labels are an educational intervention to identify traditional knowledge resources, their original, intended and ongoing uses, and protocols and practices for use. This video (above) introduces core colonial issues around theft of Indigenous materials and knowledge, reconciling practices, and introduces TK labels as an education tool for the future. However, there are inherent issues with the use of blanket labels without local context. One TK label for all TK knowledge resources treats all Indigenous Peoples knowledge as one shared knowledge, which disregards the locality and place-based nature of the knowledge. The resources below address provide more information on TK labels and the issues presented by the use of one label for all TK resources.

Creative Commons– Traditional Knowledge and the Commons: The Open Movement, Listening, and Learning

UBC Program for Open Scholarly and Education — Traditional Knowledge Licenses & Labels

We teach and provide support for licensing in academic libraries. Knowing labels and being familiar with the parameters of labeling systems and potential issues related to labels and licenses is an important area of professional knowledge. There resources would be valuable for professional development and would help library staff better support students and faculty in their work.

M3, P3: Indigenous Inclusion Toolkit

The College Libraries Ontario Learning Portal Faculty Toolkit to support Indigenous Inclusion is a fantastic collection of information, strategies, and resources to support developing Indigenous inclusivity. These resources are something I could use personally and recommend to others interested in a better understanding of how they can engage in culturally inclusive practices. I find it helpful to have collections of resources to explore to give me time for reflection and to know where I can return to deepen my knowledge. In libraries we rely on guides to collect resources in a subject area or on dedicated topics, so this design appeals to me professionally.

The section on Protecting Indigenous Knowledge would be especially relevant for information professionals as it directly relates the issues we need to be unpacking professionally.

M3, P1: Indigenous Data Sovereignty

https://www.animikii.com/news/decolonizing-digital-contextualizing-indigenous-data-sovereignty

Animikii, an Indigenous-owned technology company, produced a 6-part data sovereignty series that contextualizes, explains, and explores Indigenous data sovereignty. Many of the same issues I see in libraries are discussed in this series– who owns the data/ knowledge; who has the right to interpret and reproduce it; how do we share this knowledge/data, respecting protocols and processes that safeguard the integrity of the information; and how can we use/keep/interpret data in a way that doesn’t reinforce colonialist practices?

The theoretical questions about ownership, access, and collection underpin library collections, and deserve deep consideration and reflection.

M2, P3: Indigenous Heritage Action Plan (LAC)

Library and Archives Canada collects, preserves, and provides access to historical materials documenting the Canadian experience. In 2019, they worked with members of the Indigenous Advisory Circle to create the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Indigenous Heritage Action Plan. The plan outlines 28 concrete actions LAC will take to engage, collaborate, manage, identify, support, and promote Indigenous heritage materials within the LAC collection. The action plan introduces their approach to institutional change and how they intend to fulfill their commitment to the TRC calls to action.

Per the Action Plan (LAC, 2019):

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is committed to playing a significant role in reconciliation between the Government of Canada and First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation based on a renewed nation-to-nation or government-to-government relationship, particularly with regard to human rights. These rights include international Indigenous rights, as defined by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), a Declaration to which the Government of Canada is fully committed. LAC has an important role to play in ensuring Indigenous rights to culture and language preservation, and in managing information relating to Indigenous peoples. International rights extend to include victims and survivors of human rights violations, as set out by the United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher Principles (UNJOP). Through the preservation of information documenting human rights abuses, such as those that took place within the Indian residential school system, LAC supports Indigenous peoples’ inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why.

Library and Archives Canada. (2019). Indigenous heritage action plan. Indigenous documentary heritage initiatives. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/initiatives/Pages/actionplan.aspx

M1, P3: Decolonizing Collections: A Map-based Interface

After reading the Marker’s (2006) paper this week, I was thinking about how a map interface might respect Indigenous ties to place more than a plain, old Western index. After a few searches, I came across this paper by a prof at the University of Alberta:

Shiri, A., Borys, C., & Huang, C. (2019). Mapping Canada’s Indigenous Digital Collections. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of CAIS / Actes Du congrès Annuel De l’ACSI. https://doi.org/10.29173/cais1060

The objective of this paper is to report on a comprehensive study to examine, identify, and map Canada’s Indigenous digital collections available on the web in order to provide a metadata-rich, map-based interface that supports unified, organized, and systematic access to the Indigenous digital collections.

Below is a prototype of the mapping interface Shiri et al. (2019, p.7) propose to develop:

Marker, M. (2006). After the Makah whale hunt: Indigenous knowledge and limits to multicultural discourse. Urban Education, 41(5), 482-505.