Author: ruthw

During my position at the Kempsey Shire Library, I have worked with many professionals from libraries, archives and museums who have held events or exhibitions in the library. Working with people from different professions has helped with my career development, and their knowledge and expertise have been invaluable. I have maintained contact with some of them, and have found their assistance when needed, is given willingly. Professional networking is reciprocal; I have been able to introduce my networks to others who are not familiar with the local community. Networking with others in the profession increases my learning and provides support when needed.
I am specialising in archives as I love history and a library is a place where I can build the local history collection and maintain contact with patrons through workshops. My current position involves working with students, children and educators and engaging with the broader community at events and functions. The new direction will be with all patrons that share an interest in family history, indigenous history or local history and allows me to work with the local indigenous community to create and archive their history and participate with lifelong learning.

LinkedIn 

Hi and welcome to my page,

I am Ruth Waite, the Mobile Library Coordinator, at Kempsey Shire Library. After 18 years in this role, engaging with primary school students, I am ready for a change. Our community has a high indigenous population, and I, as a Wiradjuri descendant, would like to assist Indigenous communities to obtain skills to exist in the digital world and archive their stories from their perspective. I would love to become involved in education, for students of all ages, especially lifelong learners. The library would be a comfortable, safe space for all age groups and by making available the latest technology, everyone has the opportunity to participate in the digital world.

Professional networking is essential as involvement in the information profession and the contacts made will provide assistance and benefits to help with my professional career and community involvement. The advantage of networking is you learn from others and relationships are formed for future programs where collaboration is needed.

 

iilf careg

Summary

9^th International Indigenous Librarians Forum

August 4-7, 2015.

University of Manitoba,

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada   11 hours

Activity

The International Indigenous Librarians Forums (IILF) are held every two years as a place for indigenous librarians and information management workers, to gather and share their visions, hopes and expectations for the future. The theme for the 9th IILF was Anikoo Gaagige Ganawendaasowin’s Keepers of Knowledge. Attendance at this forum, was possible as I was in the USA attending my granddaughters first birthday

Evaluation

As cultural knowledge keepers and working in a public library, this conference will provide ideas and the importance of researching and documenting records on the local indigenous history in our shire. The aim is to record oral histories and deliver family history workshops and digitise material that can be accessed online. The presenters at the forum discussed why indigenous people must take control of their own knowledge and work alongside professionals to document history with their perspective. The involvement of professionals at all levels of libraries from classification to thesauri and indigenous collections. Indigenous languages are now included in the primary schools and preschools. Alana Garwood-Houng curator at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) presented the Pathways thesauri, which shows an indigenous perspective to describe items held in the collection.

Objectives

I have chosen to specialise in Records and Archives Management, as I would like to grow our local history collection and also create library guides for resources in the local studies collection. Our library has a strong connection with the indigenous community, with exhibitions and events, but there could be a lot more engagement if there were more indigenous staff. Networking and partnering with local indigenous services are opportunities to engage with the indigenous community and increase their participation with the library.

Reason for attending

Attendance at the conference gave me an opportunity to increase my knowledge of engaging with the indigenous community and learn from other information professionals. As this was an international event I met some colleagues from Australia and have formed relationships with them and other information professionals from galleries, libraries, archives and museums. Our library has a good relationship with our local museum and we provide mutual support when needed.

Relationship of the workshop to my study

The workshops covered many aspects of working with indigenous people and the need for their voice to be included in the history. With this knowledge, I realise we cannot offer one workshop and call this engagement. The library will need to ensure there is continuing engagement and also connect with the outlying areas and their communities. When people feel comfortable and respected this will increase the usage of our library by indigenous people. The State Library of NSW Survey outlines a lack of Indigenous identified positions. I am in an identified role in our library which will become mainstream when I leave

Learning outcomes

Respecting the protocols of the indigenous people, such as a welcome or acknowledgement of country, shows a sign of respect. This is not done at all events and only by some staff at our library, hopefully, this can become a routine opening to our events. The speakers related to the forum’s theme “as keepers of knowledge it is the responsibility of each child to pass down this knowledge from one generation to the next”. Information professionals collaborating with indigenous communities provide reliable subject access to indigenous knowledge, from the perspective of the local indigenous community. From the forum, I feel the importance of including indigenous people in capturing and sharing their history

 

IILF Sydney

Summary

10^th International Indigenous Librarians Forum

February 21-23, 2017

State Library of NSW

Sydney, Australia.

Tuesday 21, and Wednesday 22 Duration 9.00 hrs

Description of activity

The 9^th International Indigenous Librarian Forum was held in Sydney in 2017 and I was fortunate to have been granted permission to attend. My position at the library is a designated Indigenous position, and this would be a great opportunity to network among information professionals and update my knowledge and learn new skills.

Evaluation

The theme for IILF 2017 is “knowledge connections, survival and activism” and creates an opportunity for indigenous librarians and information professionals to gather and discuss issues relating to Indigenous people from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, Sweden and the United States. Traditional protocols were respected when the forum was opened by a welcome to country from Uncle Chicka Madden a local elder and the official opening and the handover of the Mauri Stone which travels to each IILF.

Objectives

In my current position, I network with the Indigenous community, through the local primary schools. I wish to hold workshops on indigenous family history in the library. The workshops will add to the library’s indigenous collection as well as the local history collection as there is an overlap of colonial and indigenous records. Library guides listing the items available in the Aboriginal Collection would help library staff and our patrons find the information they need.

Reason for attending

From the first speaker to the last you are immersed in the culture and passion from Indigenous people who are knowledge keepers of their people’s history. All Indigenous communities have the same concerns with the dispossession of land and language, drug and alcohol abuse and chronic health issues. The presenters spoke of culture and by preserving the culture, Indigenous people can take charge of their history and it will be told from their perspective. The projects that have been presented may be possible in our community and firsthand knowledge of successful programs and how they were managed will be an asset to the library and the community.

Relationship of workshops to my studies

The forum and the workshops provide the knowledge and confidence to ensure successful projects will be introduced to the library. The contacts made at these forums provide many contacts across many disciplines within the library profession and the experience of these contacts are invaluable. I have formed a good network with the Indigenous Unit at the State Library of NSW and a quick email is answered when assistance is requested.

Celia is a member of IFLA Indigenous Matters Section, which I first heard about at the IILF forum in Winnipeg. IFLA global vision project may be international but has a local impact. The need for Indigenous information professionals to join forces and work together, to collaborate and work with library services to develop Indigenous Matters (IM) and partner with IILF to progress IILF outcomes. The IM section would gather the thoughts of the Indigenous people working in the profession, and communicate with IFLA on their behalf. This IM section would include libraries, galleries, museums and cultural centres. This may be a possibility to get involved with in the future.

Learning Outcomes

The need to get young indigenous people involved in libraries to become educated and become future leaders. The library could provide a safe space where youth are comfortable and have access to the latest technology is possible if we partnered with stakeholders to provide supervision as the library may not have the staff available to manage study groups.