3.5 Māori, Information Management, and Technology

Those in the LIS field in New Zealand have recognised for some time that use of information systems such as those found in libraries, and related technology has been problematic for Māori as a user group. There is a body of writing on Māori use of libraries such as that by Szekely (1992) but there are few examples of research in this area. However recent research by Duncker (2002) has sought to investigate this using a combination of research methods including interviews and observed behaviour. In a small-scale study carried out at the University of Waikato Duncker found that Māori students were often uncomfortable in a library environment and unfamiliar with how information was organised in the library. This unfamiliarity also had negative effects on their use of digital library resources as the terminology and organisation used in the digital environment was based on that found in the physical library. Duncker suggests that use of the library metaphor in digital environments “...further augments the difficulties of users with little or no experience of Western libraries.” (pg. 229). Duncker’s Māori interviewees also related that they were more likely to learn how to use the library more efficiently if another (usually Māori) person took a hands on approach in showing them how to use the resources and orient them in the environment. This is a key piece of information to consider when investigating the information seeking behaviour of whakapapa researchers. Although this piece of research was conducted in a tertiary library, there is every reason to suspect that similar problems afflict Māori users of public libraries too. Māori users of public libraries were among those interviewed in the work of Simpson (2005) who interviewed Māori library users and Māori staff at several libraries around the country in order to illuminate how Māori library users access information in a library setting. A preference for human interaction over technology or other finding aids was expressed by many of the interviewees in this study as well.

Two key, related pieces of research that do focus on public libraries have been published. MacDonald’s (1993) research used interviews and surveys filled in by staff in public libraries in order to determine how well libraries were catering to Māori customers. Though it highlighted several key points in library use by Māori, its focus was mainly on those providing the service, and whakapapa research was not dealt with. In Szekely’s (1997) follow-up study the opinions of both Māori staff and users of the library were gathered through a series of hui or meetings held throughout the country. This piece of research highlighted several issues that apply to the study currently being proposed such as the identification of whakapapa as an “Information need” (pg. 36), attitudes around the appropriateness of libraries holding this information, and a general reticence by Māori in using libraries. Similarly Auckland City Libraries in consultation with Heather Worth (1995) surveyed their customers about their use of that public library network and received similar feedback. No further follow up research has been undertaken in these areas and ten years on it may be timely to revisit some aspects of this research study with a focus on whakapapa researchers. Also discussed by Szekely was the difficulty Māori have in dealing with technology such as library catalogues, an idea supported by Duncker’s (2002) and Simpson’s (2005) findings.

Recent research by Ta’ala (2006) has illuminated the changing role of whakapapa in a records management context. Ta’ala conducted a series of interviews with representatives of Iwi rūnanga (Māori tribal organisations) to determine how whakapapa, a mainstain of a traditional Māori worldview, was being changed by its integration within a western records management system and how tikanga Māori (traditional Māori beliefs and protocols) has been applied in the care of Māori information. Though this research takes place in the context of records management there are aspects of this that could be relevant to public libraries also.

Māori access to technology is the focus of the work of Parker (2003) who used data gathered from interviews and surveys to assess the engagement of Māori with information technologies and found that this demographic suffers from a noticeable “digital divide” meaning that Māori are far less likely to have access to information technologies than the population in general. Public libraries extensively use these technologies in providing access to resources, as well as providing access to the technologies themselves. No research in this area has yet determined how this trend might affect whakapapa researchers.