TOWARDS FEDERATION 2001
Linking Australians and their Heritage
Report of Review Meeting, 9-10 December 1993
Session H: Issues
Relating to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders Overview Paper
Background
It is difficult to assess the extent to which progress has been made on these 3 resolutions as a direct outcome of the TF2001 conference. Whilst various consultative mechanisms appear to have been initiated, and most State Libraries are engaged in services and/or collection development activity related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, there is no evidence of a "national plan linking indigenous people to all Australia's documentary heritage." Indeed, the possibility of any national plan in this or other areas involving widely diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities appears to have little chance of success, given the complexities of the issues and the distribution and composition of Aboriginal communities. This is borne out perhaps in a letter of reply from Glenys McIver of AIATSIS to Graeme Powell concerning progress on the resolutions:- Each institution would need to work individually with relevant groups rather than an overall national approach being implemented.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) has a network of regional councils, representatives from which could be drawn on by the Library and information community for advice at the local/state level. It is unlikely that this would lead to the outcomes anticipated by the TF2001 resolutions, although it may be a stepping stone. However, except in the Northern Territory, there does not appear to have been any discussion with the regional councils at state or federal level.
Aboriginal people themselves have identified the need to resolve many of the "sacred/secret" issues related to the sensitivity of some cultural materials for some Aboriginal people and this is probably more urgent from several perspectives than a national plan. Many of these materials may, and do, lie in the nation's libraries.
There is no doubt that consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on any issue related to their documentary cultural heritage or interpretation of it, is essential.
There is a dearth of qualified professionals and library technicians in the Aboriginal communities, with the State Libraries of NSW, QLD and SA and the Northern Territory Library Service providing some training and employment opportunity for Aboriginals on their staffs. The Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies library at the University of SA also has library staff in training. Advice being received is that there are few trained professionals and to achieve a greater number would be to advance the capacity to make greater progress on many service and collection issues. Commonwealth and State Government support exists for Aboriginal training and employment programs which libraries have been slow to take up.
Resolutions
The three resolutions dealt with:
- establishment of consultative committees (TH1)
- drafting of a national plan linking indigenous people to all Australia's documentary heritage(TH1)
- policy development through cooperative partnerships with institutions collecting Australian documentary heritage materials(TH2)
- dissemination of information about holdings in association with appropriate indigenous people, so as to improve access and use (TH3)
Progress
Institutions with primary responsibility for carriage of the resolutions were the NLA(TH1), CASL(TH1,2,3) and all institutions "collecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage materials"(TH2,3)
Specific comments on each of the resolutions follows, with recommendations on amendment and /or replacement with new resolutions.
(i) Establishment of consultative committees and drafting of a national plan(TH1)
- Consultative mechanisms have been initiated and/or implemented by:-
a) the NLA through:
- a series of correspondence with CASL and its members, with AIATSIS and ATSIC and with the Aboriginal and Islander Network in South Australia.
- collaboration with AIATSIS on staff links and for a workshop in November on networking and collection issues
b) State Library of Queensland which has been working with Aboriginal communities since 1990 on a range of services, including
- the indexing of the QLD component of the Tindale genealogies and other indexes to which dial-up access is now being implemented.
- specialised reference services to meet identified need
c) State Library of New South Wales - while no formal consultative mechanism is in place, the focus for three Aboriginal staff trainees has been assisting Aboriginal people to use the State Library and gain access to Aboriginal studies material in its collections and to publicise the existence of their work and services to other Aboriginal people.
d) State Library of South Australia - First Aboriginal member of the Libraries Board of SA appointed August 1993. Libraries Board Aboriginal Advisory Sub-Committee established August 1993 to develop policy for library services to Aboriginal people and to advise on policy for secret/sacred materials in State Library of South Australia. Preliminary report due February 1994.
- involvement in SA Aboriginal and Islander network
- Aboriginal Unit established in 1991 with focus on services to Aboriginal people.
Limited progress, hence establishment of Advisory body. Collection issues important.
e) Library & Information Service of Western Australia - Advisory body planned. Good network established as well as training program developed.
f) State Library of Victoria - No formal consultative mechanism but strong links with Koori community through the Koori Oral History Project established within the State Library in 1987 and ongoing.
g) State Library of Tasmania - No consultative body but supports concept of a national plan endorsed by indigenous people.
h) Northern Territory Library Service - the most developed of the library services in terms of consultation, with close association with Councils for the establishment of library service points in Aboriginal communities and with Lands Councils, the Sacred Sites Authority and others as users of the Northern Territory Library Service collections and services.
- There is not evidence of a national plan to link indigenous people to all Australia's documentary heritage. There is some discussion of the formation of a national network of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander library staff.
All of this suggests that the TH1 resolutions was ambitious, is seemingly unrealisable on a national scale and should be abolished or replaced with:
Recommendation:
-
RH1
That the State and Territory Libraries establish advisory mechanisms appropriate to State and local needs and which will result in improved access in libraries to documentary heritage for Aboriginal and Torres Stair Islander people.
(ii) Policy development through cooperative partnerships with institutions collecting Australian documentary heritage material (TH2)
If the advisory mechanisms proposed in the resolution RH1 are effective, this resolution will not be necessary. As AIATSIS has said: this seems to be a bit of a parenthood statement. AIATSIS has also suggested that the best way to achieve the desired outcome is to publicise successful collaborative approaches, particularly where the collecting insitutions employs indigenous staff and users their particular skills and insights to full advantage in policy development. The Aboriginal and Islander Network in SA has suggested that an appropriate long-term strategy would be for the appointment of indigenous people to Library Boards/Councils so as to provide for policy input at the highest level.
Collaboration on issues of collection development is essential since much of the documentary material in our collections presents what many Aboriginal people regard as a "white" perspective. Even the way be describe it has been shown to be, in numerous instances, discriminatory or even offensive. ATSIC has developed a thesaurus of terms agreed by Aboriginal people as appropriate for describing documentary material but lacks resources to publish it.
Attention needs to be given to the acquisition of materials which reflect the Aboriginal view. Since it is only relatively recently that their oral traditions have been extended to the written word, care needs to be taken to ensure that institutions acquire this too. The documented experience of growing numbers of Aboriginal people has given impetus to others to record their experience. This, in turn, has sparked renewed interest in Aboriginal writing, in their history and traditions and in new interpretations of their heritage. Increasingly, and unsurprisingly, Aboriginal people with to see and read it.
Growing awareness of library collections containing materials of interest to and/or about Aboriginal people has led to some attempt to deny access to material regarded by some Aboriginals as not "politically correct". This raises the censorship issue in a different context and sits at odds with the anti-censorship and freedom to read precepts of modern librarianship and, indeed, of society. The potential for conflict further impels us to consult with Aboriginal groups as an integral part of developing collection policy. This is more effective at the local/state level for State Libraries, and is already occurring. In the case of the NLA, continuing dialogue with AIATSIS and ATSIC seems an obvious requirement.
It is precisely because of the sensitivity of some materials that collaboration is proposed in the resolution. In SA, for example, the Education Dept. has compiled a printed bibliography of published materials which have received the imprimatur of approval by the Aboriginal people for use in courses of Aboriginal Studies. The bibliography was launched at the State Library as part of that collaboration.
Responses from the NLA, State Libraries and AIATSIS on these resolutions suggest that each institution needs to decide for itself on the actual groups for consultation, and are in fact doing so in varying degrees. It is likely that a national network of Aboriginal and Torres Stair Islander library staff will be proposed at the forthcoming Gathering and Sharing Workshop.
The recommendation, if left stand, serves as a reminder of the needs for two things:- collection development policy and collaboration. Yet it lacks the specificity likely to result in action. This is partly due to the fact that no specific organisation has carriage of the resolution and that it therefore relies on goodwill, rather than specific responsibility and resources for its achievement.
Recommendation:
- Drop TH2 and replace with:
-
RH2
That the National Library of Australia, in association with the Council of Australian State Libraries and AIATSIS, undertake to convene a biennial Round Table on Library Collections and Services of relevance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
(iii) Dissemination of information about holdings (TH3)
The NLA and the State Libraries are all well aware of the need to disseminate information about holdings. Collection Development/Selection Policies either already published or in the process thereof are one such mechanism and all are committed to that process.
In addition, ABN is used for the identification of holdings. Increased use of AARNet, with its facility to access library catalogues in particular, further enhances access to such material as does publicity and the display and exhibition of relevant material. This commonly occurs in these libraries, and perhaps more so since the TF2001 conference.
Theses have been identified as a cause of dissatisfaction with university libraries since much relevant material is contained in them, yet remains inaccessible to Aboriginal people (and to others) even when they, as Aboriginals, were the subject of much of the research.
The Aboriginal and Islander Library Network in South Australia has focussed its response on "Aboriginal cultural ownership and management" and has advocated a directory of collections and networks similar to the New Zealand Maori model.
Recognition of what may be suitable for some to see and use, might at the same time, be unsuitable or prohibited for others, lies behind TH3. Increased knowledge and awareness of Aboriginal people about holdings in library collection has stemmed at least in part from the experience within museums. The subsequent Return of Material to Aboriginal Communities (ROMTAC) Program of AIATSIS gives some indication of likely developments in the library community. As the AILN has commented, "Aboriginal ownership, management and access to information will remain a priority."
In NSW, copies of Aboriginal material held in the State Library are often copied free of charge or at the lowest possible charge for Aboriginal communities. In SA, a special collection of easily accessible published material is available for limited loan to Aboriginal people. This contrasts with the State Library of South Australia's videodisc of historic photographs which contains many images relating to Aboriginal culture. Pending the advice of the Advisory Sub-Committee referred to above, all images described in the index and containing the descriptor "Aboriginal" are precluded from view FOR EVERYONE because of their potential sensitivity for the few.
A number of initiates have been taken by the State Libraries to address with resolution.
From the production of research guides for Aboriginal studies at the State Library of Tasmania and the State Library of Victoria, to dial-up access and genealogical services at the State Library of Queensland, a widening range of services is being developed. As part of this, there is increased recognition of the need for collaboration with Aboriginal people, and indeed, a desire to "get it right".
Many of the resolutions of TF2001 have purport for linking Aboriginal communities with their documentary cultural heritage. TH3 should be expressed so as to ensure that the State and Territory Libraries, as a beginning, undertake to disseminate information about their holdings of relevant materials. This information can then be used as a basis for others and for other networking activities among indigenous people.
Recommendation:
- Amend TH3 to read:
-
RH3
That, in association with RH1, the National Library, the State and Territory Libraries undertake to disseminate information about their holdings related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples; that conditions of access and use may be negotiated.
Revised Draft Resolutions
RH1
That the State and Territory Libraries establish advisory
mechanisms appropriate to State and local needs and which will result in
improved access in libraries to documentary heritage for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people.
RH2
That the National Library of Australia, in association
with the Council of Australian State Libraries and AIATSIS, undertake to
convene a biennial Round Table on Library Collections and Services of relevance
to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
RH3
That, in
association with RH1, the National Library, the State and Territory Libraries
undertake to disseminate information about their holdings related to Aboriginal
and Torres Strait islander peoples; that conditions of access and use may be
negotiated.
Return to Report of Review Meeting, 9-10 December 1993
Last updated 10 June 1998
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