Xwi7xwa Library Guide
Defining Indigenous Knowledge Organization
The term Indigenous Knowledge Organization (IKO) is used here to describe the processes and systems for organizing and representing Indigenous library and archival materials in all formats—traditional and electronic. It includes considerations of Indigenous cataloguing standards and metadata, broadly defined.
Featured Initiatives
- AILA Subject Access and Classification Committee WikiThe American Indian Library Association (AILA) leads initiatives to improve Library of Congress subject headings and classification. This webpage also provides resources on Indigenous classification schemes, cataloging issues, and thesauri.
- Digital Atlas of Native American Intellectual Traditions (DANAIT)Seeks to create a framework for Indigenous-authored library and archival collections and create collaborative digital humanities scholarship that accurately represents Native American intellectual networks.
Selected Resources
- Indigenous Knowledge Organization Collection in cIRcle
cIRcle is part of the UBC Open Collections; it is the digital repository for research and teaching materials created by the UBC community and its partners. X̱wi7x̱wa Library maintains an Indigenous Knowledge Organization Collection on cIRcle. - Indigenous Knowledge Organization Special Issue - Cataloging & Classification Quarterly V53 5/6 2015.
Fourteen articles examining Indigenous approaches to organizing and representing Indigenous expressions of knowledge held in libraries, archives, and museums. - Presentations and Authors from Sorting Libraries Out Symposium 2019For presentations from the 2019 Sorting Libraries Out Symposium: Decolonizing Classification and Indigenizing Description.
- Indigenous Subject Headings Modifications at Red River College PresentationRed River College Library in Winnipeg, MB recently embarked on a subject headings editing process. They considered different ways to spell Indigenous data and a training component for all Library users to decolonize and use new subject headings. This link includes the presentation recording about the project delivered on May 4, 2020.
- Indigenous Subject Headings Modification Project at Red River College SlidesRed River College Library in Winnipeg, MB recently embarked on a subject headings editing process. They considered different ways to spell Indigenous data and a training component for all Library users to decolonize and use new subject headings. This link includes slides from a microlearning presentation about the project delivered on May 4, 2020.
Controlled Vocabularies
"A controlled vocabulary is an established list of standardized terms used for both indexing and retrieval of information. An example of a controlled vocabulary is subject headings used to describe library resources." (From Libraries and Archives Canada).
- Changes to Library of Congress Subject Headings Related to Indigenous PeoplesCreated for the Association of Manitoba Archives Manitoba Archival Information Network (MAIN) Database. (2015).
- Māori Subject Headings Thesaurus - Nga Upoko TukutukuDeveloped by the Māori Subject Headings Project, jointly sponsored by LIANZA, Te Rōpū Whakahau, and the National Library.
- Pathways: Gateway to the AIATSIS ThesaurusA thesaurus for subjects relating to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies, language groups and people, and place names. Used to describe items in the AIATSIS (Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies) Collections.
- Te Rōpū Whakahau Online PublicationsTe Rōpū Whakahau is the leading national body that represents Māori engaged in Libraries, Culture, Knowledge, Information, Communication and Systems Technology in Aotearoa New Zealand. See online publications: Te Ara Tika: Guiding Words (February 2005); Māori Subject Headings Draft Guidelines (August 2001); Māori Subject Headings Working Party Report: Phase Two (August 2001); Māori Subject Headings Working Party Report (March 2000); and more.
Names Authorities
"The development of a comprehensive authority file for names of First Nations represents an applied research project that would include understanding historical emergences, terminological changes and contentious issues related to naming; documenting decisions regarding naming conventions and relationships; and identifying alternate spellings, and non-preferred terms with possible mapping to other." (From Indigenization of Knowledge Organization at the X̱wi7x̱wa Library by Doyle, Lawson, & Dupont).
- Getty Research Institute: Union List of Artist NamesIncludes Indigenous artists and nations. Try searching by nationality using terms like First Nations, Native American, Māori, etc.
- Library and Archives Canada: Project NamingA collaborative project that aims to identify Inuit people portrayed within the photographic collections of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) in Ottawa.
- The Cataloguing Librarian: Update on First Nations Subject HeadingsBlog post discussing the process of developing a name authority for the "Maliseet First Nation" (2009).
- First Nations, Métis, and Inuit – Indigenous Ontology (FNMIIO)First draft of a working list of Indigenous Names to better reflect how Indigenous people currently prefer to refer to themselves. This document is being continuously updated and edited. Released through the National Indigenous Knowledge and Language Alliance (NIKLA) and CFLA-FCAB Indigenous Matters Committee – Red Team Joint Working Group on Classification and Subject Headings.
Classification Systems
"Classification systems organize library collections into subject-related categories, so similar topics will be grouped together on the shelf." (From the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library).
"When Indigenous frames of reference are not built into a system of classification, the accessibility of resources for Indigenous library users is reduced. More broadly, the widespread adoption of dominant classification systems like LCC [Library of Congress] means that local and traditional epistemologies and knowledge systems are being crowded out, and might even be eliminated altogether." (From A Case Study in Indigenous Classification by Cherry & Mukunda).
- Law of Indigenous Peoples in the Americas Classification Scheme (2013)Developed for the Library of Congress with Professor Richard Amelung.
- Ojibway Cree Resource Centre Bibliography (1978)Classified bibliography of holdings with author and subject index. (Timmins, Ontario).
- X̱wi7x̱wa Library Classification SystemIndigenous Knowledge Organization at X̱wi7x̱wa Library.
- A Tribute to Brian Deer by Jean WeihsArticle on Brian Deer's contributions to librarianship and Indigenous librarianship published soon after his death in 2019.