“Promoting Understanding Between Peoples and Generations”: Collaborative Development of the Inuvialuit Digital Library - Sharon Farnel

The Inuvialuit Digital Library (https://inuvialuitdigitallibrary.ca/) was initially developed as part of the Digital Library North (DLN) Project, a four-year collaboration between researchers at the University of Alberta, staff at the Inuvialuit Cultural Centre (ICC), and communities within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR), to develop a digital library infrastructure to support access to cultural resources.

My doctoral work builds on this research experience and my close community engagement with the ICC to examine and collaboratively develop a knowledge organization and resource description framework for the Inuvialuit Digital Library. This collaborative and iterative co-development process is providing the opportunity for me to broaden and deepen my understanding of Inuvialuit culture and approaches to cooperative work. And the framework itself is enhancing the Digital Library’s ability to engage community members across generations in their cultural past, present, and future.

In this presentation I will: a) describe methods of collaboration and community engagement, b) provide some examples of the evolving framework and how it reflects community needs and interests, and c) discuss how each of these is contributing to greater understanding and dialogue between different generations of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.