First Roundtable on Library and Archives Collections and Services of Relevance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

State Library of South Australia, Adelaide, 4 May 1995
Responsibilities and Responses: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Protocols for Libraries, Archives and Information Services

Alex Byrne

Abstract

Recognition that Australia's libraries, archives and information services had to play a role in the process of reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people led Alana Garwood, Heather Moorcroft, Alan Barnes and Alex Byrne to propose the formulation of a set of protocols to guide the institutions in such areas as the content and perspectives of collections, intellectual property issues, accessibility and use, description and classification of materials, the handling of both secret and sacred and offensive materials, governance and management, staffing education and training and the role of agencies in developing awareness of indigenous peoples. Draft protocols were developed, circulated widely for comment and informed by a survey of existing practices. They were then considered at a national consultation in September 1994 and redrafted. Following further comment and consideration, they were adopted at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library Resource Network (ATSILRN) Conference in December 1994.

Introduction

Recognising their shared interest in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues, the Northern Territory University and the University of South Australia in 1992 commenced a collaboration involving both their indigenous studies areas and their libraries. It was recognised that the management of information was emerging as a key issue which would become vitally important in the developing process of reconciliation.

A research infrastructure grant was provided in 1993-94 by the Australian Research Council through Mechanism C and followed by a National Priority (Reserve) Fund grant in 1995. The former supported the establishment of IFIRA, the Information Facility for Indigenous Resources of Australia, in cooperation with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. The latter has allowed a deeper focus on the 're-presentation' of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander information. IFIRA is described briefly below to provide some background to the development of the Protocols.

The necessity for archives, libraries and information services to respond to the needs and concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people had been recognised earlier by both indigenous commentators and archivists and librarians. However, formulation of plans for IFIRA and pursuit of the individual projects confirmed that there were some 'big issues' to be addressed - and that they should be addressed sooner rather than later. This recognition gave rise to the Protocols.

Information Facility for Indigenous Resources of Australia (IFIRA)

IFIRA was established to develop practices and procedures to provide improved access to information relating to indigenous people, to improve classificatory and descriptive procedures to enhance such access, to create an improved thesaurus of appropriate terminology, to apply these practices and procedures in the participating libraries and encourage their adoption more widely and to initiate the establishment of an electronic archive. A number of projects were pursued through IFIRA:

A pilot project on the video holdings of the two University Libraries has been established as a Filemaker Pro database. Preliminary exploration of a multimedia version has demonstrated its viability but there would be considerable start up costs and complexity induced by the requirement for copyright management.

A database of the holdings on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and issues in the Northern Territory and South Australia starting with the holdings of AIATSIS, following up with the holdings of the FAIS special collection and then extending to other collections has been completed by extraction of data from AIATSIS and FAIS. It is available on a Webserver hosted by IFIRA.

A compilation of the Mabo decision, commentaries on it, articles, newspaper clippings and related material (over 2000 press clippings and 500 other documents) has been converted to electronic format. A chronology of the Native Title debate and a range of indexes have been developed to provide sophisticated access and navigation tools. There have been delays in obtaining copyright permissions but the database will be published on CD-ROM in the first half of 1995. Elements of the database have been made accessible via the IFIRA Webserver.

A teaching kit has been developed. The Stage 1 kit will be used in teaching during 1995 but development of Stages 2 and 3 requires extensive consultation with Yolgnu informants. Preliminary work has been completed on a multimedia version - these elements will be used in Stage 1 teaching. Further work will be required to bring the kit to fruition.

After preliminary transcription of stories and other background activities, this task was postponed due to staff changes. The appointment of Pitjantjatjara academic staff at USA has now been completed and will enable the project to proceed under appropriate cultural leadership and with separate funding.

A 700 item annotated bibliography relating to environmental practices and indigenous cultural aspirations and practices has been produced and is accessible via the IFIRA Webserver. It will also be published in printed form.

Work on the Thesaurus is well advanced with several sections completed. A strong working relationship has been established with the National Library staff who maintain the APAIS Thesaurus and with AIATSIS. A mechanism needs to be established to assist with the selection of appropriate terms in contentious areas through effective consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander informants.

Professional Responsibilities

Australia has a wide range of information services, archives and libraries: from the small neighbourhood information centre to the enormous Australian Archives which has branches in all capitals and several regional centres. All have their distinct orientations and responsibilities. Government archives have clearly defined statutory responsibilities, private archives must respect certain legal requirements but can otherwise respond to the needs of their parent organisations. Public libraries must serve their communities, whether concentrated in a busy city centre or spread out over a large shire.

A similarly wide range of services is offered. Some, such as business information consultancies, emphasise access to information, others emphasise the preservation of scarce, or unique, information resources. The services differ from agency to agency with real distinctions between and among archives, libraries and information services. However, there is usually an element of collecting and making available recorded knowledge with the consequent requirement to 'select' and 'acquire' (both problematic terms for archives), record, preserve (at least for a time) and make available. Surrounding this responsibility are a number of services including, in greater or less measure: consultation, delivery, listing, advice and training.

All share a commitment to the agencies' stakeholders including both clients and potential clients and those who establish or fund the agencies. This commitment is expressed through professional service, a dedication to the preservation of knowledge, ethics and probity.

Consideration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues in the context of this commitment leads to the conclusion that Australia's information agencies have a responsibility to play a part in the process of reconciliation. The agencies can thus help fulfil the vision of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation: "A united Australia which respects this land of ours; values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage; and provides justice and equity for all."

The Protocols

But how can archives, information services and libraries play a part? And what guidance is available to the agencies so that all do not have to devise approaches from scratch? Pondering these question led Alana Garwood of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Heather Moorcroft and Alex Byrne from the Northern Territory University and Alan Barnes of the Aboriginal Research Institute at the University of South Australia to propose the development of a set of 'protocols', with accompanying illustrations of their possible application in a variety of agencies.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Protocols for Libraries, Archives and Information Services have been developed subsequently in consultation both with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and with libraries, archives and information centres. Draft protocols were developed, circulated widely for comment and informed by a survey of existing practices. They were then considered at a national consultation at Parliament House, Canberra, in September 1994 and redrafted. Following further comment and consideration, they were adopted at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library Resource Network (ATSILRN) Conference in December 1994.

It would be, of course, both undesirable and impossible to devise a set of rules for the enormous variety of archives, libraries and information services. Consequently, the Protocols seek only to guide the institutions in such areas as the content and perspectives of collections, intellectual property issues, accessibility and use, description and classification of materials, the handling of both secret and sacred and offensive materials, governance and management, staffing education and training and the role of agencies in developing awareness of indigenous peoples and their concerns.

When published, the Protocols will be accompanied by practical examples of ways in which they can be implemented. The examples expand upon the Protocols and are intended to guide libraries, archives and information services by illustrating appropriate ways to interact with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the communities which the organisations serve, and to handle materials with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content. They illustrate good practice but will need to be interpreted and applied in the context of each organisation's mission, collections and client community. It is intended that both the Protocols and examples should form an organic document that will evolve in the light of experience and reflect the changing needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and of libraries, archives and information services.

Content and Perspectives

Many of the records, books, images and other materials held by Australian libraries, archives and information services include depictions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culture and experience presented from a variety of perspectives. Perspectives include those of the colonist, policeman and magistrate as well as those of the historian, anthropologist and social commentator. The voices of indigenous people are increasingly being heard in books, videotapes, oral history and through archival records.

Major institutions have a responsibility to ensure that their collections are comprehensive, inclusive and reflective of all perspectives. These collections may include sensitive material which needs to be handled with special care. Smaller institutions may have a more specialised collecting focus. In developing and managing collections, organisations will follow good archival and/or library practice. In responding appropriately to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and issues, organisations can learn from the experience of others but, above all, must accept the crucial need to consult in an appropriate and ongoing manner with relevant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in regard to the development and management of their collections.

For libraries and private archives it is important that there should be a serious effort to balance collections by acquiring material by as well as that about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. There should be a special focus on acquiring materials produced, written or directed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: good information by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers, producers, artists, performers in all formats. This has become considerably easier in recent years with the growth in publishing of material by indigenous people, particularly through Magabala Books and University of Queensland Press and the publication of annotated bibliographies such as Black Perspectives which have been produced to guide libraries and schools in the purchase of books and other materials.

Some archives and libraries may be able to encourage this trend by sponsoring publications, promoting writing groups or offering to house records. A regional institution could make a very useful contribution by sponsoring an oral history program to record local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experiences and views. A public or school library could use Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytellers or artists and discuss with them the possibility of recording their work.

It is important to collect material which is locally based. In many local libraries, readers can find material about Aboriginal people from that area. For example, a public library in western New South Wales might have material about Aboriginal people in South Australia or Tasmania but none from the Darling. Both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people need to be able to access their local histories and traditions.

Promotion of different perspectives may take many forms: those selected should be appropriate for the type of material and the type of library or archive. This might involve placing stickers on items which illustrate indigenous experiences or views or perhaps inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to annotate materials such as historical photographs with their memories or knowledge.

Government archives may perceive some difficultly with this recommendation since their mandate to collect is generally specified in legislation. However, there is the opportunity to consult through the government agencies from which records originate. Originating agencies should be advised to be aware of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content of materials and appropriate access policies. Raising awareness of different perspectives also involves the promotion of the existence and availability of a range of materials and of any conditions governing access.

Following the lead provided by some museums, archives and libraries might facilitate the development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community keeping places in which documentation of importance to a community, or copies of the documentation, can be kept in appropriate environmental conditions and under appropriate control. Dialogue with communities may lead to the establishment of such keeping places in conjunction with a library or archive or perhaps even as a specially designated space within the library or archive.

Intellectual Property Issues

Henrietta Fourmile cogently noted that "The information collected about us is simply not owned by us". This reflects the orientation of copyright law which ensures that the interests of the authors and publishers of records, books and other documentary material are protected but the interests of those whose culture is described are not. Thus, photographs of a dance will be protected in the interests of the photographer but not those of the dancers, a record of a story will be protected for the recorder but not its source.

There is growing recognition of such moral rights to extend control over intellectual property. The recent discussion paper Proposed Moral Rights Legislation for Copyright Creators (1994: 24) notes that copyright legislation does not recognise a number of significant issues specific to Aboriginal artists including:

  1. (a) community ownership of works and management of rights according to Aboriginal tradition (eg, the clan or group elders, rather than the individual artist, may be regarded as owner of copyright in a work. Permission for use of the work should then be sought from the elders); community interests in the reproduction or public disclosure of sacred objects (eg, some works may only be viewed by men or those who have reached a designated level of initiation);

    (b) community interests in the reproduction or public disclosure of sacred objects (eg, some works may only be viewed by men or those who have reached a designated level of initiation);

    (c) protection of works such as rock art which are too old to still have copyright protection (many of these works have existed for centuries and hold special significance for a specific clan or group);

    (d) requirement that a work be original (many Aboriginal designs are derived from traditional designs and may not be regarded as original by present law); and

    (e) protection of oral traditions, ie, in the absence of a work in a material form (eg, stories and dances that have never been written or recorded win not be protected, nor, in practice, will transient forms of art such as body painting).

The discussion paper suggests that these issues need to be examined further by all relevant parties but quotes Anderson's concern that

"the law as it stands is simply not a sensitive enough instrument to deal effectively with the management of spiritually significant material, that often falls outside the time or definitional limits it sets. The protection of the integrity of such works (often ancient in origin) and the provision of mechanisms that ensure control of their dissemination remains with their custodians, could be dealt with as a specifically Australian moral rights issue".

(P Anderson, "Artists' Rights and the Exploitation of Creativity: The Introduction of Moral Rights Protection for Authors and Artists" Arts and Entertainment Law Review June 1993)

There are two key rights underpinning moral rights: the right of attribution and the right of integrity. The discussion paper defines the former as "the right to be identified as the author of a work" and the latter as "the rights to object to distortion, mutilation or other modification of, or derogatory action in relation to, the work which is prejudicial to the author's honour or reputation" and notes that "There are two other less widely recognised rights, namely, the right to withdraw a work after its publication and the right to refuse publication of a work".

Thus, moral rights for indigenous people's knowledge might comprise:

The primary rights of the owners of a culture must be recognised. Libraries, archives and information services can play a part by becoming aware of the issues surrounding cultural documentation and the need for cultural awareness training. Those working in agencies can and should develop proper professional recognition of the primary cultural and intellectual property rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and consult with appropriate indigenous people on their application to materials in the care of the agencies.

By developing a sensitivity to the issues involved in caring for documentation relating to the intellectual property of indigenous people, and in consultation with relevant indigenous people, archivists and librarians can develop ways, including the recognition of moral rights, of protecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and intellectual property. Through collaborative action initiatives involving cultural documentation can be shared.

Accessibility and Use

Aboriginal people who have written about libraries and other resource centres have invariably mentioned how important it is to feel comfortable in them. Because of their institutional nature, many archives and libraries are intimidating. Large, formal buildings with ranks of shelving, tables and seats, brusque signs and specialised terminology project an image of professional activity in which the novice is not welcome. Many feel intimidated in such an environment but it can be particularly difficult for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people if they and their families and friends, have no experience of using libraries and archives.

Agencies can be made more welcoming by attention to their design, presentation and staffing.

The last is most important: it is vital to have approachable staff who are sensitive to the anxieties of clients and to have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander faces amongst the staff. Approachable and friendly staff will mean that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people do not feel intimidated in seeking assistance to use alien systems or inadvertently made to feel stupid if they do not know how to find information. Seeing indigenous people working in the agency, and particularly in visible areas such as reference and other service points, will reassure indigenous clients that they are welcome to enter and use it. This requires not only the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff members but also the encouragement and fostering of positive relationships between staff members and clients including both those who are and are not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Extending beyond the walls of the agency, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can be employed as liaison officers to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people or communities served by the organisation, responding to the changing interests and needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This will serve to promote libraries, archives and information services in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and encourage their use for purposes identified by those people and communities. It will encourage the use of the organisation's facilities as a meeting place and resource for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Promotion can, of course, go much further by holding displays and advertising library, archives and information service holdings within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Mobile libraries should visit communities to provide a convenient service and to identify the communities' needs so that the library can respond.

Focussed finding aids are especially useful because they help clients find materials of interest without confronting large catalogues and the mysteries of computers. The Northern Territory University Library, for example, has a listing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander videos which has proved very popular. Flagging systems, such as Aboriginal flag labels on the spines of books, can be useful in smaller collections as has been demonstrated by successful use at Goulburn Public Library.

An easy atmosphere and pleasant surroundings will make the agency more welcoming for all clients. Smaller, more intimate spaces will be less intimidating that large reading rooms and cavernous foyers. The Northern Territory University's Main Library, for example, was consciously designed to have the tropical coastline and foliage visible from all the public areas of the building and to have a series of smaller study spaces interspersed among the blocks of shelving. Attention to detail will be repaid. Lincoln University, in Christchurch New Zealand, has signage in both Maori and English. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks can improve the visual presentation of the agency and send messages of welcome to indigenous people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can be involved in the planning, design and layout of libraries, archives and information services to create welcoming and suitable environments. At Moree, Aboriginal representatives on the committee had a lot of input into the refurbishment of the public library.

All these measures can be most valuable but most important is the need to develop and implement clear statements of the types of resources and services Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want by initiating consultation with indigenous clients and potential clients.

Description and Classification

Indexing terminology, subject headings and classification systems are designed to provide easy access to materials in libraries, archives and information services. However, the use of outdated, inaccurate or value-laden terms obstructs access. There needs to be nothing less than a total paradigm shift away from Eurocentric approaches to categorisation and description.

This will be achieved by developing and using a national thesaurus for describing documentation relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and issues. The descriptors or subject headings used in catalogues and listings of materials in libraries and archives are often inappropriate and, sometimes, offensive. They tend to use outdated terminology, sometimes incorporating the prejudices of other times.

Archives may be compelled to use the names appended in the past to files, records and series, but more sensitive terminology could be employed at the level of finding aids.

The key is to develop and use subject headings which are sensitive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and which promote effective retrieval. Libraries have been well served by Library of Congress Subject Headings as a thesaurus for describing wide ranging general collections. However, their deficiencies have been apparent for a very long time, leading to the introduction of means of suggesting changes to them. These means must be employed in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material because the North American bias and Eurocentric historical focus are particularly apparent and galling in this area. Consequently, it is most important that libraries should promote appropriate changes to Library of Congress Subject Headings with the aim of retrospectively recataloguing items recorded with unsuitable subject headings.

Access to both library and archival material can be improved significantly by the introduction of classificatory systems which identify items by their geographic, language and cultural identifiers. Such identifiers not only provide a greater variety access points and keys for selection but can also permit the introduction of other types of search tools such as those based on maps or hypertext links.

Initiatives to promote changes to subject headings and classificatory practices on the national and international level should, of course, be pursued in close liaison with indigenous groups. Archivists, librarians and other information professionals should consult with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at both local and national levels in relation to the description, cataloguing and classification of materials in libraries, archives and information services.

Secret and Sacred Content

Some of the materials in libraries, archives and information services are of a confidential or sensitive nature which may require certain restrictions on access for regulatory, commercial, security or community reasons.

In relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content, these sensitivities have greatest force when the materials include records and/or depictions of secret and/or sacred information which may have been recorded with or without permission. There are both published and archival materials which contain secret or sacred information which should have not be made generally available. An item need not be on open access to everyone just because it has been published: some Aboriginal people have given secret information to respected researchers, not realising that the information would be published and made available to the general public.

There have been examples of mishandling of materials which have caused great distress to indigenous people. For example, the Arrernte people of Hermannsburg were outraged when a copy of Spencer and Gillen (The Northern Tribes of Central Australia, Macmillan, 1904) fell into the hands of uninitiated youths and children because it includes photographs and descriptions of artefacts and ceremonies of a sacred nature. A community library in that environment, or indeed in Alice Springs where there are many Arrernte people, would be justified in restricting access to that work and might consider it inappropriate to even hold it.

Appropriate handling will normally mean making potential users aware of the contents before they open them. It might involve labels, notes in the catalogue indicating that the contents are "For initiated males only" or include "Women's business". For ease of management in libraries open to the public, it might be wise to shelve such materials in a restricted area, and if they should be of particular sensitivity, to box them, with descriptions of the nature of any restrictions on the outside of the boxes.

A working definition of secret or sacred material must include consultation ie an item is secret or sacred if it contains information which is considered to be secret or sacred by the community to which it pertains. Suitable management practices will depend on both the materials and the communities served by the organisations.

Secret, sacred or sensitive indigenous information should not be confused with material that may be considered offensive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Guidance on the handling of potentially offensive material is provided in Protocol 6.

There are three key steps in the handling of secret, sacred or sensitive material by libraries, archives and information services. These are:

While it is always desirable for libraries and archives to consult with the aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities involved, it is absolutely essential that there be full consultation with the most appropriate representatives of the particular communities during the first two steps of this process.

To facilitate the process of consultation and implementation, libraries and archives need to establish reference groups at both state and national levels. These groups then

To be effective, the reference groups must consist of senior staff and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander representatives of the library and archival communities in each state (especially representatives from the State Libraries and State Archives), in addition to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community representatives who can facilitate contact with communities across the state. Reference groups should publicise their existence throughout the library and archival communities within their own states, and maintain contact with corresponding reference groups in other states and at the national level.

The groups should serve as the first point of contact for libraries and archives seeking advice on the handling of secret or sacred and sensitive materials in their collections. Where reference groups are unable to give immediate advice, they will undertake to carry out appropriate consultations on behalf of the requesting library or archive. They should maintain up-to-date lists of Aboriginal contacts and authorities throughout their states to ensure that the right people are consulted. This is a crucial point. In Deniliquin, for example, there are at least five different peoples, all relocated from their original areas. When skeletal remains are discovered, who should be consulted?

It should be the responsibility of each library or archive which seeks guidance to maintain documentation on the source of their authority for particular recommendations on access, handling and storage.

In addition to providing a reactive service to libraries and archives seeking assistance, reference groups should proactively seek to identify the existence of secret, sacred or sensitive content in both records and published works. This will not only involve the retrospective surveying of records and publications, but also the monitoring of current published output. Collecting institutions which hold unpublished material should be encouraged to survey their own holdings to identify material which may potentially be secret, sacred or sensitive.

The establishment of a national secret or sacred database to assist libraries in identifying sensitive items in their collections is being investigated. If established, the database would collate information from various libraries, archives and reference groups. It would require the wholehearted support of both institutions and reference groups.

In implementing these policies and procedures it would be useful for each information agency, or a consortium of agencies, to employ specific, designated Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander liaison officer/s to serve as the specific point/s of contact between the agency or agencies and the relevant reference group/s and community or communities.

The provision of suitable storage and viewing facilities with limited access as may be required. The Strehlow Centre in Alice Springs, for example, has a separate room in which Arrernte people may use sacred objects. Limited access storage facilities will help ensure that unauthorised people do not inadvertently view or handle secret and sacred materials.

An appropriate response to this need may be the development of keeping places within the information agency or within the community. The Australian Museum has an international reputation for its sensitivity in regard to the repatriation of Aboriginal material. Its collection of secret and sacred materials includes documents, artefacts and skeletal remains. The policy is that where repatriation can take place it will be done but only after consultation with the community and with all the community members involved. Often, the result is that they remain in the Museum. The Museum does not claim ownership: the materials are owned by the community but held by the Museum in proper conditions. If the a community wants skeletal remains or artefacts to be repatriated they will be but only when there is a proper place, a respectful place, in which they can be kept. Community members can visit and see materials in the Museum or materials can be located on 'indefinite loan' in the communities with the Museum continuing to maintain them. Armidale, Moree and other centres in New South Wales have a great deal of material from the Australian Museum with curators and conservators visiting to maintain them.

Effective implementation will, of course, require a commitment from the agencies and their staff members. Any conditions on access must be observed by both staff members and clients.

Offensive Materials

Libraries, archives and information services need to recognise that their collections may contain materials that are offensive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Such materials may be racist, sexist, derogatory, abusive or offensively wrong. Libraries, archives and information services have a responsibility to preserve and make accessible the documentary record but must also respond appropriately to the existence of offensive materials.

This issue immediately raises concerns about censorship. Libraries have a proud record of resisting censorship and are very sensitive to any suggestion that materials should be suppressed. The rewriting of history portrayed in Orwell's 1984 is an immediate and legitimate concern. Archives similarly have a strong commitment to maintaining the historical record without fear or favour and, indeed, are legislatively required to preserve the records of the institutions within their responsibility. Both recognise that the disparaging remarks of bigots demean the bigoted not the disparaged.

Appropriate handling does not mean censorship. It means a sensitivity to the context in which information agencies operate, the scope of their services and the nature of the communities they serve. This is standard practice in libraries and archives. Some material in archives is routinely restricted or subject to review by the originating agency, often on national security grounds. School libraries do not hold material which is considered to be inappropriate for the children they serve. Public libraries do not select material which is considered dangerous (eg detailed instructions on making bombs) or grossly offensive (eg pornography) within their communities. Academic and research libraries, however, might hold both if they should be appropriate to the work of their clients but would ensure that such materials were available only within strict controls.

Appropriate handling will normally mean making potential users aware of the contents of materials before they open them. Similarly to secret and sacred materials, it might be useful to apply labels or notes in the catalogue indicating that the contents may cause offence: this would echo the warnings about language, violence, etc that are given for films shown on television. For ease of management in some libraries which are open to the public, it might be convenient to shelve such materials in a restricted area. It would be useful to investigate the establishment of a national database to assist libraries to identify easily books and other materials which may include offensive contents and consequently require special handling.

Thus, to give practical effect to this concern, information agencies should, within the context of their missions and the communities they serve, develop an awareness of the extent to which their collections may contain materials which will be offensive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They should take advice from and develop effective means of consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to develop strategies to deal appropriately with offensive materials.

Management and Governance

It is now widely accepted that all organisations, and particularly service organisations, should adopt a client focus. They should genuinely respect and solicit the views of their clients. Organisations have particular responsibilities to the communities and nations they serve which make it imperative that the communities' interests are reflected in both their governance and management to ensure that all policies and practices serve the interests of the communities without discrimination, even inadvertent discrimination, between members of the communities.

Thus libraries, archives and information services which serve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and/or hold materials with Aboriginal and Torres Strait content or perspectives should ensure the involvement and participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in governance, management and operation.

This can be achieved by inviting or appointing appropriate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members to governing and advisory bodies including boards, councils and committees so that they are able to contribute to the development of institutional policies. Examples include the appointment of Ms Jacky Huggins to the Queensland State Library Board and Dr Eleanor Bourke to the Libraries Board of South Australia.

At an operational level, the appointment of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to management positions will permit meaningful participation in effective development, adoption and implementation of relevant policies. However, suitable appointees may not be available immediately, until the strategies discussed under Protocol 8 have taken effect, so it is important to develop mechanisms to ensure effective monitoring and review of policy implementation. A recent example was the inclusion of Ms Isobel Tarago on the committee which talked to people in remote Queensland communities about way of improving public library service to aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

To avoid tokenism, libraries and archives need to fully accept the value of including indigenous people and their concerns in the focus of the agency. This implies a need to facilitate organisational change to accommodate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and people.

Staffing

Some 2% of Australians are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander but, of course, the proportion varies from region to region. The Northern Territory has the highest proportion of any State or Territory, nearly a quarter but, even there, the proportion varies from nearly 100% in Aboriginal communities to some 10% in the urban area of Darwin. It would be reasonable to expect that, overall, the proportion of indigenous people in Australia should be paralleled in the total workforce of libraries, archives and information services and that each organisation's staffing profile should reflect the composition of its client population.

This is a matter of equity but is also a policy direction from which the agencies, their other staff members and their clients can benefit. The inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within organisations can change organisational culture for the benefit of all not just for indigenous clients, although that aspect is most important. In a pluralist society, we all benefit from coming to know, understand and respect each other's beliefs, customs and traditions. As information agencies, archives, libraries, and other information services bear a particular responsibility for the transmission of recorded culture and should therefore show a lead in the ways in which they handle cultural documentation, and the staff they employ to handle it.

However, we are a long way short of this ideal. Although there has been no census of indigenous employees, it is clear that no information agencies employ large numbers and that to date, the best endeavours of libraries and archives have been little more than tokenism with indigenous employees clustered in lower level positions and on short term contract or trainee terms of employment. Many occupy specialist 'Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander' positions with limited career opportunities and a considerable burden of being the 'instant expert' on anything indigenous. It is thus vitally important to take affirmative action to recruit and promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This responsibility will require employers, educational institutions and professional bodies to be proactive in developing employment and promotional pathways.

As has been observed with women in Australia, and with other groups in other countries, waiting for applicants to enter a field of employment, obtain training and work their way up the ladder, is unlikely to redress the situation. Save the exceptional few, most people will not enter a field in which they feel out of place and, if they should enter, would be unlikely to withstand the considerable pressures of being different. People need role models, mentoring, accelerated pathways, strong support and, above all, understanding.

Rather than insisting on formal archives or library qualifications, information agencies should recognise the value and relevance of prior learning and/or qualifications in other fields when appointing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The selection process may be rendered a little less daunting, and more suitable candidates may be selected, by the involvement of members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community when it is appropriate.

Once appointed, it is essential that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff members should be suitably trained and supported to undertake their duties and to face the challenges of entering a new field. Opportunities for advancement should be open to those who wish to specialise or to take on managerial responsibilities. The entry of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff members into management positions can be facilitated through support strategies such as mentoring and training.

A consequence of endeavouring to understand, appreciate and respect other cultures is that information agencies should develop and implement cross cultural awareness programs which ensure that all staff are both approachable and sensitive to cultural diversity. Both the agencies and its employees are then able to recognise and respond to the cultural needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff members.

Education and Training

Archives, information services, and libraries must ensure their staff members are appropriately prepared to deal with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander materials, and both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients and colleagues. As an industry, libraries, archives and information services, educational institutions and professional bodies should ensure that library and archive education and training courses at all levels adequately cover issues relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander materials, clients and staff. All graduates of Australian education and training programs for information work should have gained an appreciation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture and of the issues relating to the documentation which they will handle in their future careers in information agencies.

As for indigenous employees, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in archive and library education and training have a particular need for strong support through such means as positive encouragement, mentoring and study leave. Facilitating mutual support for each other is particularly effective.

There is also a need to expand the knowledge and understanding of those already employed in information agencies. As a minimum, each agency should provide indigenous cultural awareness training for every staff member, emphasising, of course, those who deal with the public. It is, however, desirable for those agencies with substantial holdings of indigenous material or significant numbers of people among their actual or potential client populations to go further. Such agencies should consider supporting study of indigenous culture and issues by their staff members. The 'study circles' promoted and supported by the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation might provide an appropriate model.

In all cases, however, it is essential that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be involved in both the design and delivery of relevant courses. In consultation with appropriate indigenous people, agencies, academics and practitioners should develop and implement appropriate models for professional practice in cataloguing, acquisition, collection management and information access which accommodate the concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Awareness of Indigenous Issues and People

Information services, libraries and archives not only preserve and provide access to the recorded memories of our communities but can, through their selection and handling of documentation, shape the understanding of our past and therefore our future. They thus have considerable scope to contribute to greater understanding between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-indigenous people in Australia. In other words, information agencies can act proactively as educators, promoting awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, cultures and issues among non-indigenous people.

All the strategies employed in promotional and public programs are available. Archives and libraries can mount displays, host guest speakers, hold community nights, compile publications. But it should be remembered that are not just shadowy figures in histories or the objects of anthropological inquiry but real, living people with a diversity of experiences and views, and much to contribute.

Consequently, displays should reflect the vitality of indigenous culture and their preparation should involve, or be undertaken by, indigenous people. Information agencies could develop a rapprochement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities by jointly preparing displays or other activities.

Other activities might include inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as guest speakers or to tell stories or present cultural performances in a library. A jointly promoted community art project or a scheme to place indigenous art works in an archive will lead to mutual understanding as well as promoting awareness of indigenous culture. An especially significant gesture would be to celebrate NAIDOC week.

As publishers, information agencies can help indigenous people to make available their histories and perspectives. Oral history projects can result in the publication of tapes, videos or books. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content in existing records or publications can be highlighted by developing useful guides. Similarly, in fulfilling the responsibility to preserve documentary records of our communities, archives and libraries should be proactive in acquiring materials produced by indigenous and in highlighting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content and perspectives through collection development including the pursuit of oral history and indexing and record copying projects. To assist such proactive ventures, agencies can make submissions in collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for monies to undertake specific projects.

Conclusion

In addressing the needs and concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, libraries, archives and information services have a great opportunity, and responsibility, to contribute to the nationally vital process of reconciliation. We will doubtless face many difficulties but the goal is of such importance that we must pursue it. It will enrich our agencies and our professional, and personal, lives.

Bibliography

This bibliography lists useful materials related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people libraries, archives and information services. It is not exhaustive but is intended to provide a basis for further reading.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library Resource Network, 'Resolutions of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library Resource Network (ATSILIRN) at the Gathering and Sharing Workshop 24 November 1993'. ATSILIRN Newsletter vol. 1 Jan 1994.

Aboriginal Education Unit, Recommended Books for Aboriginal Studies. Adelaide: Aboriginal Education Unit, 199?.

Garth Agius, 'The Aboriginal and Islander Library Network Committee'. In Access and equity: challenges in public librarianship. Adelaide: Auslib Press, 1992.

Rob Amery, 'Attitudes to language: Aboriginal English, a non-standard dialect.' In Aboriginal language issues. South Australian College of Advanced Education, 1989.

Louise Anemaat, 'Documenting Aboriginal history'. In The information environment - towards 2000. 8th National convention, Darwin 15-18 September 1991.

P Banki, 'The protection of Aboriginal folklore: report of the working party'. Bulletin (Australian Copyright Council) vol 44 1983.

Baiba Berzins, 'Archivists and Aboriginal records'. Archives and Manuscripts November 1991, pp.l81-192.

CAMA (Council of Australian Museums Associations Inc), Previous possessions, new obligations: the policies for museums in Australia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Melbourne: CAMA, 1993.

Michael Christie, 'What is a part Aborigine?' Aboriginal Child at School 14(1) Feb/Mar 1986.

Mick Dodson, 'Cultural issues and library services'. In Infobridges: linking Australia and Asia Proceedings of the Second National Reference and Information Service Section Conference, Darwin 9.1.1993. Darwin: RAISS, 1993.

Jim Everett, 'Why Aborigines should writing for children'. In The Aboriginal motif in children 's literature. Proceedings of a National Seminar held at the University of Tasmania, 25-27 September, 1981 ed. Twila Herr. Hobart: School of Librarianship, University of Tasmania, 1982.

Gary Foley, 'Teaching whites a lesson'. In Staining the wattle: a people's history of Australia since 1788 ed. Verity Burgman and Jenny Lee. Fitzroy: McPhee Gribble, 1988.

Henrietta Fourmile, 'The need for an independent national inquiry into state collections of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage'. Aboriginal Law Bulletin 2(56) June 1992.

Henrietta Fourmile, 'Who owns the past? - Aborigines as captives of the archives'. Aboriginal History 13(1-2) 1989.

Wharehuia Hemara, 'Your first responsibility is to us: information needs of indigenous minorities'. Libraries the heart of the matter. Proceedings of the Conference of the Australian Library and Information Association Albury-Wodonga,1992. Melbourne: ALW Thorpe,1992.

Colin Johnson (Mudrooroo), 'Captured discourse, captured lives'. Aboriginal History 11(1) 1987.

Ros Langford, 'On writing for children: the Aboriginal motif'. In The Aboriginal motif in children's literature Proceedings of a National Seminar held at the University of Tasmania, 25-27 September, 1981 ed. Twila Herr. Hobart: School of Librarianship, University of Tasmania, 1982.

Marcia Langton, 'Echoes of history: archives and library collections: our heritage and custodial responsibility' paper presented at the Safe Keeping Women's Business Conference, Adelaide, 1993. Canberra: AGPS, 1993.

Eric Michaels, Bad Aboriginal art: tradition, media and technological horizons. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994.

Heather Moorcroft and Alex Byrne, 'Libraries and archives as holders of cultural property: a discussion paper' Northern Territory University Library, 1994.

Rose Murray et al, 'An Aboriginal perspective on how Aborigines are portrayed in children's literature'. In IFLA General Conference 1988: Open Forum on libraries serving disadvantaged persons.

Graeme Neate, 'Keeping secrets secret.' Aboriginal Law Bulletin No. 5 August 1982.

Phyllis Williams, Felicity Williams and Heather Moorcroft, "Providing library services for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander people". In Infobridges: Linking Australia and Asia Proceedings of the Second National Reference and Information Service Section Conference, Darwin 9-ll July, 1993. Darwin: RAISS, 1993.

Maisie Wilson, 'The original culture: Aborigines in libraries? - the Aboriginal viewpoint'. In Libraries in a multicultural society: papers presented at special study no. 16, Canberra, 27-29 August, 1979 as part of 20th Biennial Conference of the Library Association of Australia Sydney: Public Libraries Division, State Library of NSW, 1979.


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Alex Byrne, Chief Librarian, Northern Territory University Library
Last updated 12 June 1998
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