Representing Indigenous Knowledges on the Web: A Work-in-Progress

Are you responsible for community outreach and engagement at your library? Are you looking for ways to involve Indigenous communities in the creation and curation of your collections? The speakers for this ShopTalk are in the process of building an Indigenous knowledges Web portal, and they are eager to share their experiences with those who are interested in pursuing similar projects at their own libraries. Entitled “Cosmovisions among Us,” the portal will contain content developed or selected by members of several Indigenous communities, such as the Maya, Yanomami, Saami, and Inuit. This content will revolve around Indigenous worldviews, otherwise known as cosmovisions. You will leave this session with multiple strategies for collaborating with Indigenous patrons in the building of an online platform. In addition, you will be able to communicate the advantages of this project—such as the democratization of collections—to library stakeholders. Lastly, you will take away a set of cultural competencies/sensitivities that you can put into practice in your own work with Indigenous and other traditionally underserved communities, in order to ensure that your home institution is a place where cultural differences are affirmed and cultivated.