This document discusses cataloging and classification of indigenous and non-Western knowledge. It covers:
- The origins of indigenous cataloging in response to Eurocentric systems that did not adequately represent indigenous peoples. Efforts in Australia, North America, and New Zealand are described.
- Challenges of indigenous cataloging include marginalization, differing worldviews, separation from cultural contexts, and issues with assuming universality. Effective practices involve collaboration and an indigenous perspective.
- Cataloging of non-Western materials in the Soviet Union, which developed its own classification systems due to ideological differences from Western schemes. Control and censorship of library collections was common.
- Reconstruction of Chinese library classification and cataloging after periods of
4.16.24 21st Century Movements for Black Lives.pptx
Pathways to Cataloging Indigenous Knowledge
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Pathways to Cataloging Indigenous
Knowledge
“When an Elder dies, a library burns down”- African proverb
Indigenous knowledge organization is a relatively new concept in our post-colonial age, having only been around since
the late 20th century
Indigenous cataloging began due to a
lack of accurate representation of
indigenous people worldwide. Library of
Congress Subject Headings and the
Dewey Decimal System represent
a very hegemonic, patriarchal world
view that is deeply ingrained in the
world of
information science.
Australian Efforts
• Collaboration with
indigenous groups is
essential to the new
system of organization
• ATSILIRN Protocols:
Description &
Classification
• AIATSIS Universal
Thesauri
• Australian & Torres
Strait Islander Data
Archive (ATSIDA)
• Traditional Knowledge
Revival Pathways
(TKRP)
Native American Efforts
Kathleen Arthur,
Maeve Countey, &
Jeff Harrison
LIS 653-01
Professor Pattuelli
Spring 2014
• Brian Deer Classification
• Movement toward creating
local customized thesauri
• Professional Ethics - no
easy answers;
communication with
groups is key to finding the
middle path
• Technology may help
• Presents oral knowledge in
medium younger
generation familiar with,
views as “just as good”
• Technology allows
recordings of oral histories,
stories, performances,
photos to be presented
with printed sources
(providing context)
Basics
6.
7. Linked Open Data for library users
Linked Open
Data
Carlos Acevedo
Michael Benowitz
Lauren Restivo
References
Berners-Lee, T. (2006). Linked Data - Design Issues. Retrieved from http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html ; W3C (2014). RDF 1.1 Primer. Retrieved from http://www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-rdf11-primer-20140225/;
Tim Berners-Lee’s Four Principles:
• Use Uniform Resource Identifiers
(URIs) to identify things
• Use HTTP URIs (web addresses) to
make them findable
• Provide useful information on
these pages, including the
standards used
• Provide further URI links
(Berners-Lee, 2006)
Resource Description Framework (RDF) & the RDF Triple
RDF is a recommendation published by the W3C as a “framework for expressing information about
resources,” (W3C, 2014) utilizing the RDF triple to do so. This takes the form of:
Subject Predicate Object
This model describes the subject through relationships to certain descriptors, and allows for these
relationships to be intelligible to computers. These relationships can then be “linked” to allow for networks
of information to be created across the internet.
Source: W3C RDF Primer 1.1: http://www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-rdf11-primer-
20140225/
Core Concepts & Terms
SPARQL: SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language. Allows users to access and manipulate data
in RDF formats
RDF Namespaces: Terms used in the predicate of a triple to define a relationship. Generally drawn from
one of hundreds of value vocabularies. Always appears as a URI.
RDF Syntax: The method of encoding RDF data for access. Several standardized syntaxes have been
adopted, most notably RDF/XML, Turtle, JSON & N-Triples
Legal Interoperability of Bibliographic Data
Put bibliographic data on the web with an open license
Make available as structured data
Use non-proprietary formats
Use URIs to identify your data
Link your data with other data to build relationships
DATA COMMODITY
Open Licenses
Open Data Commons
•Open Data Commons Attribution
License
•Open Data Commons Open Database
License
•Open Data Commons Public Domain
Dedication and License
Creative Commons
•Six varying levels of attribution
licenses
•Creative Commons Universal Public
Domain Dedication (CC0)
• Linked open data finds its roots in the Semantic Web, which integrates common formats with standard
language, allowing a user to move through an infinite set of databases connected by their relatedness
to one another.
• Current linked open data models include the Library of Congress BIBFRAME (represented by the map
to the left) and DBpedia (represented by the entry on the right).
• One of the biggest technical challenges facing linked open data initiatives is migrating bibliographic
data from MARC 21 records into linked data models.
• Libraries, archives, and museums can support linked open data by:
• building vocabularies and ontologies that focus on structural metadata,
• making collections available digitally through the use of Semantic Web technologies,
• and by advocating for public support and funding of increased access to information.
8.
9. Indigenous Cataloging & Classification
First Nations - Elizabeth McDonald
Brian Deer Classification System:
expresses important relationships
between tribal groups and concepts
by location
First Nations Name Authority List:
identifies groups by the names they
have given themselves
Canadian Subject Headings: kept
“Indians of North America” in favor
of revising headings for specific
peoples
Native Americans – Michelle Magnotta
American Indian Library
Association (AILA): spreads
information about Native American
culture, language, values and
information needs in the library
community.
The Museum System (TMS):
collection management program
used in museums, such as the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Protocols: outline different
opportunities for organizations to
cooperate with Native
communities.
Maori - Kerri Rose
Maori Subject Headings:
developed to help Maori library
user by creating a system that is
relevant to the Maori worldview
and intended to work within the
framework of the current
Western classification schemes.
Challenges:
1)Marginalization of indigenous peoples
2)Difference in worldview - linguistic/cultural barriers
3)Separation of materials from their creators
4)The myth of universality
Considerations:
1)Don’t Assume
2)Incorporate indigenous perspective and involve
indigenous individuals
3)Original System vs. Adaptation of Existing System
4)Indigenous People are Not Static
LIS 653-02 Spring 2014
Dr. C. Pattuelli Pratt Institute
10.
11. Non-Western Cataloging
Corina Bardoff, Phillip Cunningham, Lillian Lai
In 1917, more than 70% of Russia’s population between
age nine and 49 was illiterate. There was little formal
training for librarians, and there were no common
bibliographic standards.
Soviet Classification Tables 1933 & 1946
Spring 2014: LIS 653-02
Cataloging Non-Western Items
When a catalogers encounters items in a non-western
language, what do? Stick with that you know – fluency
or familiarity with the language of the item being
cataloged is best practice.
Copy Cataloging from Arabic to English.
Connexion & Disconnection
Through OCLC’s Connexion, a cataloger will have
assistance with various non-western scripts and
languages. The most common one would encounter are
already included.
Worldcat FirstSearch can search for the same item
whether it is input as non-Latin script or its romanized
equivalent. Records can be created in original script and
found using Latin script because the fields are paired
under the same tag number.
Transliteration tools within Connexion can
automatically transliterate romanized Arabic into Arabic
script, or romanized Farsi (Parsi) into Arabic script for the
Persian language.
OCLC offers a free tutorial on non-Latin script
cataloging within Connexion (~25 minutes).
Regular purges rid catalogs of cards for the “harmful” and
“obsolete” works that might “mislead” readers.
Catalogs were reduced in size by half.
Libraries maintained separate “official catalogs” for librarians
and authorized researchers only.
The Bolsheviks promised vast changes to the Russian public
including 100% literacy and universal education. The
Bolsheviks saw libraries as the most efficient means to
bring books to the masses; books would inject the masses
with the political consciousness necessary to build the
Communist world they wanted.
Universal Decimal Classification was seen as the best, but it
was also criticized as a “bourgeois, capitalist system filled
with the biases and ideas of Western imperialist society.”
Soviet Classification & Cataloging
Decimal Classification in the USSR
Massam Ne Davat’ – Not For the Masses
“Experience has taught Soviet librarians to abstain from
any initiative” (Baumanis and Rogers, 1958)
China has undergone periods of suppression of
intellectual thinking and book burning for unification. Two
notable eras was the Qin Dynasty and the Cultural
Revolution. The reconstructions eras after the two periods
made great efforts in repairing books and their cataloging
systems.
China began to reform their library catalogs by studying
international cataloging standards. A few to name were
Descriptive Cataloging Rules for Western Language Materials
(aligned with AACR2), CNMARC, and USMARC.
China began to adopt foreign library systems for their
collections, which left Chinese libraries still divided. In 1998,
CALIS (China Academic Library and Information System) was
formed to cater to the academic library community. CALIS
connected libraries together by sharing databases and
academic papers with each other to become more efficient
(Zhu, 2003, p.400).
In Han Dynasty, the emperor ordered Liu Xiang and later
on, his son, Liu Xin, to repair and organize the damaged
books. They created a bibliography, Qi Lue, to organize the
final selection of 13,000 volumes. Qi Lue served as the
foundation for the future of Chinese classification systems. Qi
Lue’s six sections evolved into four divisions, which then
became the Si Ku Classification.
Reconstructing China’s Libraries
After Qin Dynasty
After the Cultural Revolution