5 Annotated Bibliography

The following resources were used to form the development of this lesson plan and its components. In addition, these resources may be utilized for further reading on the topic.

Adom, D., Agyemang, O., & Manu, G. O. (2018). Ghanaian Cultural Symbols as Wall Decorations for Cultural Education and Revitalization in Higher Institutions of Ghana: The Case of K.N.U.S.T. Journal of Urban Culture Research, 16, 82–105. https://doi.org/10.14456/jucr.2018.5

This paper describes a cultural education initiative in Ghana to increase the presence of cultural symbols throughout campus as a strategy to revitalize traditional culture. The study revealed that the placement of cultural symbols prominently around campus did impact students. One of these symbols is used in the heading of this lesson plan.

Anderson, J. (2010). Indigenous/traditional knowledge and intellectual property. Center for the Study of the Public Domain. https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/itkpaper/

This issues paper provides a thorough overview of the issues related to indigenous and traditional knowledge and intellectual property law. Anderson recommends the use of frameworks which empower indigenous communities and critically evaluates frameworks which previously took the cultural systems of indigenous peoples for granted. This paper includes several examples of misuse of Indigenous knowledge.

Basak, S. (2018). Digitization of Traditional Knowledge. In Natural Products and Drug Discovery (pp. 555-606). Elsevier.

Basek explained how there has been an increased interest in documenting plants for databases in an effort to record traditional medical plant knowledge. This article presents a list of dozens of traditional knowledge databases from around the world, and explains the different digitization tools used to identify compounds for the databases. Basek concludes by explaining how researchers use these databases.

Bailey, J., & Praetzellis, M. (2017). Digital preservation, ethical care and the tribal stewardship cohort program: An NSDA interview with Kimberly Christen. Digital Library Federation. https://ndsa.org/2017/03/15/digital-preservation-ethical-care-and-the-tribal-stewardship-cohort-program-an-ndsa-interview-with-kimberly-christen.html

This interview was conducted with Kimberly Christen who spoke on behalf of the Tribal Stewardship Program at Washington State University. Christen’s interview addressed the importance of ethical care for tribal librarians, archivists and museum professionals.

Bielby, J. (2015). Comparative philosophies in intercultural information ethics. Confluence: Journal of World Philosophies, 2, 233-253.

Bielby describes the impact of intercultural information ethics (IIE) on the field of information ethics, while exploring more about the implications and presumptions from non-western viewpoints.

Bruchac, M. M. (2014). Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Knowledge. In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Claire Smith, ed., chapter 10, pp. 3814-3824. New York, NY: Springer Science and Business Media. https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1172&context=anthro_papers#:~:text=Knowledge%20is%20often%20passed%20on,metaphorical%20truths%20about%20these%20relations.

Bruhac explained the difference between Indigenous and traditional knowledge using examples and explaining the key issues and debates related to documenting oral traditions, while protecting Indigenous rights.

Callison, C., Ludbrook, A., Owen, V., & Nayyer, K. (2021). Engaging Respectfully with Indigenous Knowledges: Copyright, Customary Law, and Cultural Memory Institutions in Canada. KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies, 5(1), 1-15.

This paper explores how cultural memory institutions can respect the ownership of knowledge produced within indigenous communities. The authors conclude with an approach for memory institutions to ensure ownership to indigenous communities for their languages, history and culture, which include knowledge labels and protection protocols.

Capurro, R. (2008). Intercultural information ethics. In Kenneth E. Himma & Herman T. Tavani (eds.): The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. New Jersey: Wiley, 2008, 639-665.

Capurro’s work on intercultural information ethics (IIE) explores the academic debate around ICT which introduces cultural attitudes to the field of information ethics. This paper analyzes the foundational debate on the sources of morality, the foundations of IIE and the impact of lCT on local cultures, as seen within the IIE perspective. Of particular significance to the case study in this lesson plan, the paper includes the African perspective, which examines questions of protection related to indigenous knowledge, ICT and development.

Feris, L. (2004). Protecting traditional knowledge in Africa: Considering African approaches. African Human Rights Law Journal, 4(2), 242-255.

After concerns over the loss and exploitation of traditional knowledge in Africa, particularly biodiversity in Africa, Feris presents several strategies for protecting traditional knowledge (and the limits of models at the time the article was written).

Kansa, E., Schultz, J., & Bissell, A. (2005). Protecting Traditional Knowledge and Expanding Access to Scientific Data: Juxtaposing Intellectual Property Agendas via a “Some Rights Reserved” Model. International Journal of Cultural Property, 12(3), 285-314.

This paper explores the tension between two movements related to documenting cultural heritage. First, open knowledge is interrogated through the lens of providing universal access to content. Second, traditional knowledge is examined as a movement intended to protect forms of knowledge from exploitation. The authors suggest that after conversations between those from both movements, the solution for both traditional knowledge protection and open knowledge advocates is a “some rights reserved” model which includes cultural heritage and data sharing licenses.

Kasih, D. P. D., Dharmawan, N. K. S., Putra, I. B. W., Sudiarawan, K. A., & Rakhima, A. S. (2021). The Exploitation of Indigenous Communities by Commercial Actors: Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expression. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 8(4), 91-108.

This study uses a qualitative doctrinal legal research design to examine ways that policymakers can protect the legal rights of underprivileged communities from exploitation by commercial entities with a financial interest. They found that in Indonesia, current copyright law was not substantial enough to protect traditional cultural expressions and proposed six recommendations for improving legal protection in developing countries. This paper also presents several examples of exploitation of TK by international business men.

Liew, C. L., Yeates, J., & Lilley, S. C. (2021). Digitized indigenous knowledge collections: Impact on cultural knowledge transmission, social connections, and cultural identity. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 72(12), 1575-1592.

Through interviews with users of a digitized indigenous knowledge collection, researchers identified benefits to the collection, plus concerns which were related to accessing the collection. Analysis of interviews also identified several areas of use that were not previously identified in value-impact frameworks. Researchers also introduce the concept of “sharing in the wild” which is where knowledge transmission inspired the creation of repositories.

Local Contexts. https://localcontexts.org/

Local Contexts (founded by Jane Anderson and Kim Christen) provides digital strategies for indigenous communities, cultural institutions and researchers to determine ownership and access for cultural heritage and indegenous data. The Traditional Knowledge and Biocultural Labels program allow for indegenous communities to identify rules and responsibilities for accessing digital content.

Make It Digital. https://digitalnz.org/make-it-digital

Make it Digital is a resource provided by the National Library of New Zealand. For the purposes of this lesson plan, the framework for the digital content lifecycle was used as a guide for digitizing content. Additional details related to each phase of the lifecycle is provided on their website. The concept of using a scorecard to examine collections was also adapted for this lesson.

Oguamanam, C. (2009). Documentation and digitization of traditional knowledge and intangible cultural knowledge: Challenges and prospects. Intangible Cultural Heritage and Intellectual Property: Cultural Diversity and Sustainable Development (Antwerp: Intersentia, 2009), 357-383.

This book chapter explains how the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) left indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage vulnerable to exploitation and appropriation. Through a discussion of the discourse on knowledge protection, Ogauamanam concludes that digitization is beneficial for traditional knowledge, but should include some protections from the public domain.