Relevance of Indigenous Knowledge and Possibility of Its Preservation, Use, and Dissemination by Facilitation Centers and Libraries: Examples from India

ABSTRACT

Indigenous knowledge (INK) and Community knowledge (COK) based development efforts are gaining recognition in India. These are intertwined with local people’s ideas, wisdom, perception etc. Different types of INK and COK exist in heterogeneous multilingual Indian society. They are transmitted from one generation to another. Examples taken from the farm practices, leather tanning industry, use of medicinal plants, biodiversity preservation, informal archives and oral history sources suggest that a well orchestrated effort is necessary to preserve INK and COK systems. The present condition of memory institutions like libraries, archives and museums is unsatisfactory. The implementation mechanism for the laws enacted for the purpose of safeguarding cultural artefact and traditional know-how are weak. Coordination among various state controlled and federal agencies is necessary to achieve the results. Prudent use of information and communication technology (ICT) can help to develop a system to collect, process, preserve and proper use of INK and COK. The success will depend on right kind of laws, social and cultural norms, research projects etc. which can create awareness among the professional groups and sensitize the citizens about their age old traditions and skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous knowledge
• community knowledge
• agricultural practices
• biodiversity
• documentary heritage

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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