Modular Information Management: Using AUSTLANG to Enhance the Classification of Australian Indigenous Knowledge Resources

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of alternative classification systems

Organisation	Country	Collection type	Summary of response	Reference
Sylvia Ashton-Warner Library, University of Auckland.	Aotearoa New Zealand	Specialised sub-collection of Māori language readers.	Māori readers reclassified using Ngā Upoko Tukutuku thesaurus and Ngā Kete Kōrero framework.	(Bardenheier et al., 2015)
Galiwin’ku Community Library.	Australia	Re-classification of entire collection for a remote Indigenous community.	Galiwin’ku classification system developed to reclassify collection according to Indigenous epistemologies in East Arnhem Land, Australia.	(Masterson et al., 2019)
Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute.	Canada	Specialised Indigenous collection.	Brian Deer Classification System implemented to reflect collection and community.	(Swanson, 2015)
Association for Manitoba Archives (AMA).	Canada	Archival materials that relate to Indigenous Manitobans.	Library of Congress Subject Headings modified to improve access to resources pertaining to Indigenous Manitobans.	(Bone, 2016)
Nunavut Libraries Online Consortium.	Canada	Specialised sub-collection of Inuit language material.	Bilingual classification workflows developed and implemented to improve classification of resources in Inuit languages and to facilitate access for non-English speaking information seekers.	(Rigby, 2015)
Union of British Colombia Indian Chiefs Library (UBCIC).	Canada	Specialised Indigenous collection.	Revision of existing Brian Deer Classification System and complete replacement of Library of Congress Classification used previously.	(Cherry & Mukunda, 2015)
Xwi7xwa Library, University of British Colombia.	Canada	Specialised Indigenous collection.	Ongoing commitment to the Indigenization of collection, using a suite of specialised tools: First Nations House of Learning Headings, Xwi7xwa classification scheme, Xwi7xwa cataloguing standard.	(Doyle et al., 2015)
Hamilton Library, University of Hawaii’ at Manoa.	USA	Specialised sub-collection of Pacific languages material.	ISO 639–3 language tags added to MARC bibliographic records to identify Pacific languages accurately.	(Kleiber et al., 2018)
Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Centre.	USA	Specialised Indigenous collection.	Mashantucket Pequot Thesaurus of American Indian Terminology developed to reflect needs of Indigenous information seekers.	(Littletree & Metoyer, 2015)

Table 2. Summary of standards used for language identification

Name	No. languages or references	Example of code	Primary purpose	Criteria: inclusion	Criteria: classification
MARC language codes.	484 languages	English: [eng]; Australian languages: [aus]	Designate language in bibliographic records for written material.	‘Sufficient’ body of literature.	No distinction between ‘language’ and ‘dialect’.
ISO 639–3	500+ languages	English: [eng], Australian languages: [aus], Djambarrpuyngu: [djr]	Provide support for language identification with a comprehensive list of all known languages.	Mutual unintelligibility; Shared body of literature; Ethnolinguistic identity.	‘Languages’ only.
Ethnologue	7,117 references	English: [eng], Australian languages: [aus], Djambarrpuyngu: [djr]	Encyclopaedia: comprehensive reference for the world’s languages	Mutual unintelligibility; Shared body of literature; Ethnolinguistic identity.	‘Languages’ only.
Glottolog	7,600 references	English: stan1293, Djambarrpuyngu: djam1256.	Database: comprehensive reference for the world’s languages.	Distinct from other languages; Used as a means of communication; Sufficient documentation exists.	Distinction between ‘language’ and ‘dialect’ but criteria are not rigorous.
AUSTLANG	1,204 references.	Djambarrpuyngu: D115; Wik Mungkan: Y57	Database: resource for Traditional Indigenous languages in Australia.	Languages spoken on the Australian at the time of European arrival.	No distinction between ‘language’ and ‘dialect’.

Figure 1. Screenshot of MARC record for Tara June Winch’s The Yield (National Library of Australia, 2021)

Language tags [eng] (MARC language codes) and AUSTLANG (D10) are used in fields 008 (control field: fixed-length data elements and 041 (language code) as per NLA guidelines for cataloguing with AUSTLANG. Additional information is provided in fields 546 (language note) and 650 (subject added entry-topical term) (National Library of Australia, 2019).

Figure 2. Partial screen shot of the Djambarrpuyngu (N115) entry in AUSTLANG (AIATSIS, n.d.-c)

Table 3. Summary of results language codes

AIATSIS reference name	Djambarrpuyngu	Dharawal/Tharawal	Wik Mungkan	Boonwurrung
AIATSIS code	N115	S59	Y57	S35
MARC language code	n/a	n/a	No individual code but listed under the [aus] code heading as ‘Wik-Munkan’.	n/a
Ethnologue name	Djambarrpuyngu	Thurawal	Wik-Mungkan	n/a
ISO 639–3 code	djr [Djambarrpuyngu]	tbh [Dharawal]	wim [Wik-Mungkan]	n/a
Glottocode	djam1256 [Djambarrpuyngu]	thur1254 [Thurawal]	wikm1247 [Wik-Mungkan]	n/a

Table 4. Summary of results synonyms

AIATSIS reference name	Djambarrpuyngu	Dharawal/Tharawal	Wik Mungkan	Boonwurrung
AIATSIS code	N115	S59	Y57	S35
ABN name	Djambarrpuyngu language	Dharawal language	Wik-Mungkan language	n/a
ABS name	Djambarrpuyngu	Dharawal	Wik Mungkan	n/a
Horton name	n/a	Tharawal	Wik (Mimungkum/Wik-Mungkana)	Boonwurrung
Tindale name	Duwal (Tjambarupingu)	Tharawal	Wikmunkan, Mimungkum	Bunurong
Thesaurus heading language	Djambarrpuyngu language N115	Dharawal/Tharawal language S59	Wik Mungkan language Y57	Boonwurrung language S35
Thesaurus heading (old)	Djambarrpuyngu language (N115) (NT SD53-03)	Dharawal/Tharawal/Dariwal language (S59) (NSW Sl56-09)	Wik Mungkan language (Y57, Y143) (QLD SD54-07)	Boonwurrung /Boonerwrung/Bunurong language (S35) (Vic SJ55-09)
Tindale (1974)	16 varied. Includes N115 spelling.	12 variants. Does not include S59 spelling.	13 variants. Does not contain Y57 spelling.	14 variants. Does not include S35 spelling.
O’Grady et al. (1966)	n/a	5 variants. Does not include S59 spelling.	Wik Mungkan	4 varied. Does not include S35 spelling.
Other sources	4 variants. Includes N115 spelling.	13 variants. Includes both S59 spelling variants.	7 variants. Does not include Y57 spelling.	76 varied. Includes S35 spelling.
Synonyms	18 variants. Does not include N115 spelling.	20 variants. Includes S59 spelling for Dharawal.	42 variants. Does not include Y57 spelling.	74+ variants. Does not include S35 spelling.

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