December 22, 2010

New Web-Based Platform to Share Indigenous Knowledge

Washington State’s Kim Christen has led the creation of a powerful platform to archive and share indigenous knowledge.  The platform is called Mukurtu, named after the Australian indigenous community Warumungu’s word meaning “dilly bag.” Dilly bags hold sacred items and are accessible by acting responsibly within the community and gaining the permission of knowledgeable community leaders. Those who donate to the archive can specify what kinds of permissions are granted to those who would like to use the material.

Mukurtu (MOOK-oo-too)

1. A free and open source community archive platform that provides international standards-based content management tools adaptable to the local cultural protocols and intellectual property systems of indigenous communities, libraries, archives, and museums.

2. A flexible and robust archival platform that creates an interface between source communities and collecting institutions facilitating the exchange and circulation of collections materials, metadata, and indigenous knowledge.

Posted by Anupam Chander on December 22, 2010 at 09:24 AM in Globalization | Permalink