Managing and Preserving Indigenous Knowledge in the Knowledge Management Era: challenges and opportunities for information professionals

Managing knowledge in general and indigenous know-ledge in particular has become an important and valu-able input in the management of sustainable develop-ment programmes. Historically, indigenous knowledgehas been downplayed in the management of informa-tion. The tendency among library and informationprofessionals has been to emphasize recorded know-ledge at the expense of unrecorded indigenous know-ledge. However, the growing realization that indig-enous knowledge has a role to play in nationaldevelopment as well as the knowledge managementenvironment has led to the growth of interest in pre-serving and managing it. The major challenges to themanagement and preservation of indigenous know-ledge are issues relating to collection development, in-tellectual property rights, access and the preservationmedia. Patrick Ngulube is a Lecturer in organization of infor-mation, advanced research methods, records and archivesmanagement at the Department of Information Studies,School of Human and Social Studies, University of Na-tal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. E-mail: [email protected]. © 2002 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on April 14, 2008http://idv.sagepub.comDownloaded from INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE Information Development, vol. 18, no. 2, June 2002 101MORE ON INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE ‘Breathing the thin air of cyberspace’: global knowledge and the Nepal context. J. Gregson, G. R. Upadhaya. Information Technology for Development, 9 (3,4) 2000, p.141–152. il. refs. Examines global and indigenous knowledge sharing with a focus on electronic information exchange in Nepal’sdevelopment sector. Drawing on lessons from experience based on two local examples, a framework is presentedof a strategy for realising the potential of information and communications technologies (ICT) in countrieswhere knowledge sharing and access is constrained in a variety of ways. The ‘iCAPACITY framework’ outlinedfor the South Asian context integrates the inter-dependent themes of Content, Access, and Partnership, high-lighting the critical components that require consideration when building the capacity for ICT usage and know-ledge sharing in a developing country context. Practical initial steps are put forward, that recognize the primaryconcern for holistically addressing economic, social and environmental issues, with the overall priority of allevi-ating poverty using broad-based participation. Concludes that developing countries, such as Nepal, currentlyoccupy what may be metaphorically referred to as ‘the thin air of cyberspace’, where the essential knowledgeneeding to be shared locally or globally, is not yet widely available or accessible. In this context, particular carehas to be taken in formulating localised strategies and models that can improve the quality of this ‘air’, and leadto a situation where development efforts can truly be enhanced by the IT revolution. Intellectual property rights: mothering innovations to markets. P. Ganguli. World Patent Information, 22 (1–2) Mar–Jun 2000, p.43–52. il. refs. Examines innovation and knowledge generation processes and the supporting role of intellectual property rights(IPR) both for systematized investigative science and traditional community led activities. Options for protec-tion of traditional knowledge and life materials and processes are suggested. It is suggested that the systematicand logical merging of ideas from conventions like TRIPS, convention of biodiversity (CBD), and union pourla protection des obtentitous vegetates (UPOV) can lead to the creation of harmonized provisions that couldsatisfy basic and minimum standards of IPR and societal ethics. The need for the unambiguous definition ofdiscovery and invention in the granting of patents for biotechnological investigations is explored, as well as theissues of the establishment of prior art from unstructured traditional knowledge, identifying legal owners oftraditional knowledge and evaluating prior art in this domain. The imperative task of creating a structuredknowledge database of traditional practices and linking them through global networks is highlighted. Four casestudies are presented to illustrate issues related to: the erroneous granting of a patent and the role of documentedcommunity prior art in its revocation; equitable sharing of benefits with indigenous tribes; sharing of benefitswith the community; and integrating indigenous knowledge, modern science and reciprocity into novel drugdiscovery. (The author may be contacted by electronic mail at [email protected]). Information economy and knowledge society: an introduction. Part 3: economics and policy aspects. A. Neelameghan. Information Studies, 5 (4) Oct 1999, p.249–260. refs. Looks at some positive and negative aspects of the Internet economy in which currently only 10 per cent of usersare from the developing countries. Very few of their national development plans have a chapter on information,and it is suggested an information sector should be properly recognised. Calls for greater capabilities in nationalinformation systems in Third world countries to capture and disseminate indigenous knowledge. Discussesinformation flow models as a step toward developing a taxonomy of information processes, with capacity forimproving technical publications. Also considers issues of control over information flow and allocation of fundsto a national information infrastructure. (From Library and Information Science Abstracts) © 2002 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on April 14, 2008http://idv.sagepub.comDownloaded from INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE 102 Information Development, vol. 18, no. 2, June 2002 © 2002 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution.at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on April 14, 2008http://idv.sagepub.comDownloaded from