Diverse socio-technical aspects of a digital archive of Aboriginal languages

ABSTRACT

A socio-technical approach is taken to explore a digital archive of Australian Indigenous cultural heritage. The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages is considered in terms of what it is currently doing and what it was intended to do. Two ethnographic stories focusing on user interactions and the outcomes of an online survey serve to evaluate the effectiveness of the Archive from the perspective of different users. This is then juxtaposed with a consideration of the original grant application, outlining what was envisaged for the project. This analysis serves to highlight some of the contingent relations and diverse socio-technical aspects of a specific knowledge infrastructure, as it allows multiple forms of interaction, new connections and generative activities as people discover, access and interact with the content now and into the future.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous languages
• digital archive
• language maps
• knowledge infrastructure
• user interaction

Acknowledgements

The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages project is supported by the Australian Research Council’s Linkage, Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities funding scheme (LE120100016 and LE140100063) as a partnership between Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory Department of Education, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Northern Territory Library, Northern Territory Catholic Education Office and Australian National University.

Ethics approval for this research was provided by the Human Research Ethics Committee of Charles Darwin University, reference H14031.

The author would like to acknowledge the support of her supervisors, Professor Michael Christie, Professor Helen Verran, Professor Jane Simpson and Dr Susy Macqueen, as well as the contribution of Dr Michaela Spencer to this document.

Data availability

The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages is available online at http://laal.cdu.edu.au/.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. M Christie, B Devlin and C Bow, ‘The Birth of the Living Archive: An Emerging Archive of Australian Aboriginal Languages and Literature’, Archifacts, October 2014, pp. 48–63, pp. 52–3.

2. C Bow, M Christie and B Devlin, ‘Developing a Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages’, Language Documentation and Conservation, vol. 8, 2014, pp. 345–60; C Bow, M Christie and B Devlin, ‘Shoehorning Complex Metadata in the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages’, in A Harris, N Thieberger and L Barwick (eds), Research, Records and Responsibility: Ten Years of PARADISEC, Sydney University Press, Sydney, 2015, pp. 115–31; C Bow, M Christie and B Devlin, ‘Digital Futures for Bilingual Books’, in BC Devlin, S Disbray and NRF Devlin (eds), History of Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory: People, Programs and Policies, Springer, Singapore, 2017, pp. 347–53.

3. DM Levy, ‘Documents and Libraries: A Sociotechnical Perspective’, in Ann Peterson Bishop, Nancy A Van House and Barbara Pfeil Buttenfield (eds), Digital Library Use: Social Practice in Design and Evaluation, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2003, p. 33.

4. For language documentation see for example PK Austin, ‘Language Documentation in the 21st Century’, JournaLIPP, vol. 3, no. 3, 2014, pp. 57–71; R Henke and AL Berez-Kroeker, ‘A Brief History of Archiving in Language Documentation, with an Annotated Bibliography’, in Michael Shepard, Gary Holton and Ryan Henke (eds), Emergent Use and Conceptualization of Language Archives, edited series within the journal Language Documentation and Conservation, vol. 10, 2016, pp. 411–57; K Rice and N Thieberger, ‘Tools and Technology for Language Documentation and Revitalization’, in KL Rehg and L Campbell (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Endangered Languages, Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York, 2018, pp. 225–247. For the role of libraries in Indigenous knowledge spaces see for example M Nakata, A Byrne, V Nakata and G Gardiner, ‘Indigenous Knowledge, the Library and Information Service Sector, and Protocols’, Australian Academic and Research Libraries, vol. 36, no. 2, 2005, pp. 7–21; M Nakata and M Langton, Australian Indigenous Knowledge and Libraries, Australian Academic and Research Libraries, vol. 36, no. 2, 1 June 2005, pp. 1–211; S Nicholls, L Booker, K Thorpe, M Jackson, C Girault, R Briggs and C Jones, ‘From Principle to Practice: Community Consultation Regarding Access to Indigenous Language Material in Archival Records at the State Library of New South Wales’, Archives and Manuscripts, vol. 44, no. 3, 2016, pp. 1–14; K Thorpe and M Galassi, ‘Rediscovering Indigenous Languages: The Role and Impact of Libraries and Archives in Cultural Revitalisation’, Australian Academic and Research Libraries, vol. 45, no. 2, 2014, pp. 81–100. For work on Indigenous knowledge practices in digital contexts see for example M Christie, ‘Computer Databases and Aboriginal Knowledge’, Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts, no. 1, February 2004, pp. 4–12; M Christie, ‘Words, Ontologies and Aboriginal Databases’, Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture and Policy, vol. 116, no. 1, 2005, pp. 52–63; H Verran, M Christie, B. Anbins-King, T Van Weeren and W Yunupingu, ‘Designing Digital Knowledge Management Tools with Aboriginal Australians’, Digital Creativity, vol. 18, no. 3, 2007, pp. 129–42.

5. For example R Amery, Warraparna Kaurna! Reclaiming an Australian Language, University of Adelaide Press, Adelaide, SA, 2016; J Giacon, Yaluu. A Recovery Grammar of Yuwaalaraay and Gamilaraay: A Description of Two New South Wales Languages Based on 160 Years of Records, Asia-Pacific Linguistics, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2017.

6. M Nakata, V Nakata, G Gardiner, J McKeough, A Byrne and J Gibson, ‘Indigenous Digital Collections: An Early Look at the Organisation and Culture Interface’, Australian Academic and Research Libraries, vol. 39, no. 4, 2008, pp. 233–4.

7. GC Bowker, K Baker, F Millerand and D Ribes, ‘Toward Information Infrastructure Studies: Ways of Knowing in a Networked Environment’, in J Hunsinger, L Klastrup and M Allen (eds), International Handbook of Internet Research, Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, 2009, pp. 97–117; PN Edwards, SJ Jackson, MK Chalmers, GC Bowker, D Ribes, M Burton and S Calvert, Knowledge Infrastructures: Intellectual Frameworks and Research Challenges, Deep Blue, Ann Arbor, MI, 2013; H Karasti, F Millerand, CM Hine and GC Bowker, ‘Knowledge Infrastructures: Part I’, Science and Technology Studies, vol. 29, no. 1, 2016, pp. 2–12.

8. C Waterton, ‘Experimenting with the Archive: STS-ers as Analysts and Co-constructors of Databases and Other Archival Forms’, Science, Technology, and Human Values, vol. 35, no. 5, 2010, pp. 645–76, p. 647.

9. SL Star, ‘Infrastructure and Ethnographic Practice: Working on the Fringes’, Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, vol. 14, no. 2, 2002, pp. 107–22; KF Gracy, ‘Documenting Communities of Practice: Making the Case for Archival Ethnography’, Archival Science, vol. 4, nos. 3–4, 2004, pp. 335–65.

10. Later a mobile app was developed to enable offline access to materials from the Archive CorrelLink, LAAL Reader, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 2015.

11. Christie et al., p. 58.

12. Star, p. 114.

13. For discussion of the use of ‘technologies of representation’ in the performativity of Indigenous knowledges, see H Verran and M Christie, ‘Using/Designing Digital Technologies of Representation in Aboriginal Australian Knowledge Practices’, Human Technology, vol. 3, no. 2, 2007, pp. 214–27.

14. SIL International, ISO 639–3, ISO 3 Registration Authority, 2015, available at <http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/default.asp>, accessed 31 May 2017; JA Bickford, ‘The Ethics of Language Identification and ISO 639’, Listening: Journal of Communication Ethics, Religion, and Culture, vol. 51, no. 1, 2016, pp. 21–34.

15. C Bow, ‘Using Authentic Language Resources to Incorporate Indigenous Knowledges Across the Australian Curriculum’, Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts, no. 20, October 2016, pp. 20–39.

16. Christie, ‘Computer Databases and Aboriginal Knowledge’; Christie, ‘Words, Ontologies and Aboriginal Databases’; M Christie, ‘Boundaries and Accountabilities in Computer-Assisted Ethnobotany’, Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, vol. 1, no. 3, 2006, pp. 285–96; Verran and Christie.

17. Christie, ‘Words, Ontologies and Aboriginal Databases’, p. 60.

18. C Bow and P Hepworth, ‘Observing and Respecting Diverse Knowledge Traditions in a Digital Archive of Indigenous Language Materials’, Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship, (in press).

19. Google Analytics showed that in the 12 months from 1 October 2017 the site had over 6000 visits from 3870 users, of which 84% were new visitors, and that each user spent an average of 11 minutes and visited 4.5 pages per session, leading to a total of 27,556 overall page views in one year. This gives an average of just over 16 visits and 10 users per day, and 84% of users were in Australia.

20. A more complete report on the outcomes of the survey can be found at the project’s blog site available at <http://livingarchive.cdu.edu.au/survey-outcomes/>.

21. Christie et al., pp. 52–3.

22. C Nicholls, ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts: Indigenous Language Bilingual Education Programmes in the Northern Territory of Australia, 1972–1998’, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, vol. 8, nos. 2–3, 2005, pp. 160–77; B Devlin, S Disbray and N Devlin, ‘A Thematic History of Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory’, in BC Devlin, S Disbray and NRF Devlin (eds), History of Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory, Springer, Singapore, 2017, pp. 1–10.

23. B Devlin, ‘Policy Change in 2008: Evidence-Based or a Knee-Jerk Response?’, in BC Devlin, S Disbray and NRF Devlin (eds), History of Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory, Springer, Singapore, 2017, pp. 203–18; J Oldfield, ‘Anangu Muru Wunka – Talking Black Fella: A Critical Policy Analysis of the Northern Territory First Four Hours of English’, PhD, University of Melbourne, 2016; J Simpson, J Caffery and P McConvell, Gaps in Australia’s Indigenous Language Policy: Dismantling Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory, AIATSIS Discussion Paper, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra, 2009.

24. NP Himmelmann, ‘Documentary and Descriptive Linguistics’, Linguistics, vol. 3, no. 6, 1998, pp. 161–96; UNESCO, Education in a Multilingual World, UNESCO Education Position Paper, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, 2003; NH Hornberger, ‘Multilingual Education Policy and Practice: Ten Certainties (Grounded in Indigenous Experience)’, Language Teaching, vol. 42, no. 2, 2009, pp. 197–211.

25. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Our Land Our Languages: Language Learning in Indigenous Communities, The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, ACT, 17 September 2012, p. viii.

26. ACIL Allen Consulting, M Rose and M McMillan, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Independent Review, ACIL Allen Consulting, Brisbane, QLD, 2014, p. 165. Concerns about wait times are mentioned in House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, pp. 207–8.

27. M Christie, ‘Developing Local Curriculum Materials – Learning Metaphors, Insightful Collaborations, Community Involvement’, in B Devlin, S Disbray and NRF Devlin (eds), History of Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory, Springer, Singapore, 2017, pp. 113–26; B Devlin, ‘Language Maintenance in a Northeast Arnhem Land Settlement’, EdD, Columbia University, New York, 1986; J Simpson, Warlpiri Morpho-syntax: A Lexicalist Approach, vol. 23, Springer Science and Business Media, Dordrecht, 1991; J Simpson, ‘Warumungu (Australian – Pama-Nyungan)’, in A Spencer and AM Zwicky (eds), The Handbook of Morphology, Blackwell, Oxford, 1998, pp. 707–36.

28. M Christie, ‘Yolngu Studies: A Case Study of Aboriginal Community Engagement’, Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, vol. 1, 2008, pp. 31–47; M Christie, ‘Engaging with Australian Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Charles Darwin University and the Yolngu of Northeast Arnhem Land’, Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts, no. 1, December 2009, pp. 23–35; M Christie, Teaching from Country: Increasing the Participation of Indigenous Knowledge Holders in Tertiary Teaching through the Use of Emerging Digital Technologies, Australian Learning and Teaching Council, Strawberry Hills, NSW, 2010; M Christie, ‘Teaching from Country, Learning from Country’, Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts, no. 2, 2010, pp. 6–17; M Christie, H Verran and W Gaykamangu, IKRMNA – Making Collective Memory with Computers, Indigenous Knowledge and Resource Management in Northern Australia, 2003.

29. J Mamtora and C Bow, ‘Towards a Unique Archive of Aboriginal Languages: A Collaborative Project’, Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association, vol. 66, no. 1, 2017, pp. 28–41.

30. J Anderson, ‘The Making of Indigenous Knowledge in Intellectual Property Law in Australia’, International Journal of Cultural Property, vol. 12, no. 3, 2005, pp. 345–71; L Iacovino, ‘Rethinking Archival, Ethical and Legal Frameworks for Records of Indigenous Australian Communities: A Participant Relationship Model of Rights and Responsibilities’, Archival Science, vol. 10, no. 4, 2010, pp. 353–72; T Janke and L Iacovino, ‘Keeping Cultures Alive: Archives and Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights’, Archival Science, vol. 12, no. 2, 2012, pp. 151–71; S McKemmish, S Faulkhead, L Iacovino and K Thorpe, ‘Australian Indigenous Knowledge and the Archives: Embracing Multiple Ways of Knowing and Keeping’, Archives and Manuscripts, vol. 38, no. 1, 2010, pp. 27–50; K Thorpe, ‘Aboriginal Community Archives: A Case Study in Ethical Community Research’, in AJ Gilliland, S McKemmish and AJ Lau (eds), Research in the Archival Multiverse, Monash University Publishing, Clayton, Vic., 2017, pp. 900–34.

31. Bow and Hepworth.

32. Christie reflecting on his role as teacher-linguist in a bilingual school program saw unutilised books as ‘ten years of linguistic work continuing to lie on the shelves, rarely having been used in a classroom: a constant reminder that Yolngu teachers and their students were never impressed for a moment by the illusion of objective knowledge we had tried to conjure within each cover, a sign of Yolngu resistance to colonisation’. M Christie, ‘Drawing the Line – A History of Yolngu Literacy’, in D Myers (ed.), Reinventing Literacy – The Multicultural Imperative, Phaedrus Books, Rockhampton, QLD, 1995, p. 80.

33. Christie et al., p. 55.

34. L Ormond-Parker and R Sloggett, ‘Local Archives and Community Collecting in the Digital Age’, Archival Science, vol. 12, no. 2, 2012, p. 195.

Additional information

Funding

The author’s research is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship [LE120100016 and LE140100063].

Notes on contributors

Catherine Bow

Catherine Bow is a linguist with research experience in both descriptive and applied linguistics. Since 2012 she has worked as project manager for the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages at Charles Darwin University, and is currently completing her PhD in digital technologies and Aboriginal languages through Charles Darwin University and the Australian National University.