3.4 Indigenous Populations and Libraries Internationally

LIS professionals internationally have made attempts to assess the information needs of indigenous populations in countries other than New Zealand. Much of what has been written is based on the experience of LIS professionals rather than research, and attempts to make recommendations on how to best serve these customers. This is the case with examples such as Nakata (2005) wherein the information needs of Aboriginal Australians are discussed. Few examples of research that has been undertaken in this area are available however one such is the work of Biggs (2001) who sought to investigate and assess the degree of access to library services available amongst Native American communities in California. Biggs found that the tribal libraries she assessed were seen as an important institution in preserving and recording local indigenous culture but that they lacked consistent and established funding. Another example of research into the information needs of an indigenous group is that of Ikoja-Odongo and Ocholla (2004) who focus on entrepreneurs in Uganda. They found that the information seeking behaviours of this group rarely led them to a library and 68% of respondents did not know about public libraries at all. A common thread amongst this work is that indigenous populations are often not well served by the Western library model. This is discussed in more detail with respect to the indigenous culture in New Zealand in the following section.