Day 3 – Thursday 14th February 2019
Revitalising first nations languages: keeping culture strong in the digital world – Terry Janke
Estimate that there are only 20 Indigenous languages being used in every day speech. 90% of languages are endangered and because they are an oral race, there is limits to what is written and many of the speakers have passed on. Digital technology is important for collecting, storing and sharing all indigenous languages.
There are currently 30 centres that are revitalising Aboriginal languages.
Indigenous culture and intellectual property – the rights of indigenous people to their heritage. Indigenous culture is very inter-related. Controlling the documentation of on which they are a subject is a problem for indigenous cultures. New medicines being created from Aboriginal bush medicine, cultural items such as spears and more – need to give credit to them as creators. Also, Aboriginal skeletons that were taken away for study, are sought to be returned to the land.
It is a circle, because Indigenous culture comes from place and it belongs to all indigenous culture.
There are no Australian laws to protect these rights. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People has now been adopted by Australia. It is not law, but it is policy that should be seriously considered.
NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust is the first legal framework in Australia. Still nothing in the law that shows how IP will play out. Protocols are currently being developed from the regulations in the law.
Although a language dictionary has copyright, it belongs to the compiler/linguist, not to the language owners. Sounds recordings give some rights to the speakers, but the speakers may not have known about it and the descendants may not know of its existence, so the rights remain with the recordings’ creators.
It becomes problematic when Indigenous peoples want to access and make use of this content but are denied. Then they do the work to revitalize their language, and a commercial company can come and use it without permission.
A lot of work is ongoing and complex. AITSIS has an extensive collection of languages online, but with conditions of use that ensure that indigenous communities are aware of how their languages are being used.
Terri Janke has been developing protocols that will assist in protecting and enabling interaction with their language. They are guidelines which are not legally enforceable but can be used contractually to ensure they become legally required.
- Respect – indigenous peoples have the right to maintain control, protect and develop their ICIP (never out of copyright)
- Self Determination – empowering indigenous peoples to make decisions about how their cultural content is used
- Consent and consultation – needed from a community, not one individual (included in the AITSIS Code of Ethics)
- Interpretation – comes from the indigenous culture
- Cultural integrity – retains the content in context
- Secrecy and privacy – don’t put anything out that is personal, private or secret to the culture
- Attribution – giving credit and in the proper form
- Benefit sharing rights – can be giving them access to copies, payment, resource sharing
- Maintaining indigenous cultures
- Recognition of ongoing rights – use IP laws and traditional custodian notices and include ICIP clauses in contracts
Protocols are being used widely by languages centres, performances organisations, education facilities, research centres and more.
A model for innovative community engagement: Tech Shed at City of Canada Bay
Have a learning space at Rhodes which opened in January 2017. Aims to be a welcoming space which supports learning, creativity, innovation and community. However, it is an e-resource centre, so they needed something more to engage the local community.
Put together a learning technology platform plan which includes Nao bots, little bits, 3D printers, A0 printers, Macbooks and studio gear. The audience is 12,000 people in proximity, which comprises 18-35-year olds, active seniors and young families. Higher than average income, education and highest level of people with post grad qualification in NSW and high device ownership.
Activities were drop in and impromptu, skills intro and short workshops and then formal workshops and courses. They still focus on that model to some extent, but it has been refined for different audiences, for their partner communities of practice – who are highly engaged in their program development.
Number one thing the community said that wanted from their new library, was to feel connected. Learning space name came from the ethos of wanting to support community learning – the community has enthusiastically engaged with this.
Families programming was being attended by retired men, seeking to learn as well as contribute.
At the same time, they applied for and were successful in getting grant funding for health and wellbeing outcomes for older Australians and started a 12-month pilot, with the aim of being self-sustaining at the end of the period.
Found a local champion, who has ended up coming on staff as a facilitator. They also advertised in every Council publications and comms channel, invited every likely looking candidate who came in. Had an open day and distributed publicity widely. Introduced everything, encouraged questions and surveyed potential participants.
For first six months if was very structured. Introduced workshops in 3D printing and modelling, robot building, Python and photography. Learning centre were heavily involved and facilitation was hands on. 30 in the group now and around 12-15 attending each session.
The transition to sustainability was a collaborative effort. One option was to not continue, but the group brought back their proposal. They are now part of the local men’s shed and the member of one is now a member of both the Men’s Shed and the Men’s Tech Shed and a core group goes between both groups. The library continues to support the group with facilities and equipment.
When you ask the attendees what they get out of it, it is the learning, the camaraderie and the stories.
For stakeholders: The Men’s Shed now has new members with new stills, the participants assist in library outreach and programming and they often work their way into other networks. For the library: upskilled alongside this community of practice, participants are regular attendees at other programs, connects them with other groups and networks, they have updated equipment from their 3D printing facilities. Great guinea pigs for programs and procedures, built a fleet of DIY robots.
These days, the only cost to the library is tea and biscuits and some 3D printing filament. Their membership of the Men’s Shed covers their insurance.
Being on the front foot with e-safety – Kellie Britnell
Digital skills and digital inclusion are not only important for older Australians. In the next 10 years they are predicting that there will be 10 million jobs requiring advanced digital skills and that many countries are expecting shortfalls, including in Australia. eSafety Commissioner Office mainly works with issues relating to young people.
The Office of e-Safety is the Australian single point of truth for valid, evidence-based information. Education and prevention are one of their key activities, which creates resources and presents face to face and webinar content. They provide resources for libraries and schools.
They also have an investigations unit which deals with safety issues. Eg. cyber-bullying for under 18s can be investigated, cyber abuse for adults can be supported with advice. They are also investigating “revenge porn” to get images removed, issue fines to perpetrators and social media companies.
They are also undertaking a new domestic violence project eSafety Women and now oversee Be Connected.
Their research team confirms the stats that 1 in 5 young people report that they have been bullied online. However serious cyberbullying is defined as seriously threatening, harassing, intimidating or humiliating and not accidental and can be repetitive. The repetition comes from the sharing of social networks.
Increased complaints around offensive or upsetting images, bullying on game platforms, impost accounts. Complaints about hacking social media, unwanted contact. Cyberbullying can be reported through the social media service but collect evidence and if it is not removed within 48 hours report it to eSafety and block the person and tell someone you trust.
Child sexual abuse material was share by 750,000 users across the internet in a year. The Office dealt with 8000 reports of this material last year, but none was hosted in Australia. They have also referred 35000 images for takedown, with their 43 country partners.
eSafety Women aims to empower women to take control of technology in their lives. Technology facilitated abuse includes harassment, monitoring/stalking, impersonation, threats/punishment. Front line workers are trained in this program, so that they in turn can help victims of domestic violence.
Image based abuse which is the threatening, taking and sharing of images. 2017 – 1 in 10 had a nude or sexual photo shared without their consent. Women are twice as likely as men to be victims, particularly aged 18-24, indigenous Australians, immigrants, LGBTI. Perpetrators are usually known and are often former partners. For 1 in 4, the image sharing was followed by other behaviours. The impact can be deeply damaging and isn’t helped by societal beliefs that it is partly their own fault. The e-Safety Commissioner can help with taking the content off the internet.
Older Australians have the lowest level of participation (51%). Be Connected sits separately to the eSafety website and there is excellent content which is being developed ongoing.
Sandwich generation – young children and ageing parents – helping both generations with their online needs. Top programs last year were online shopping, identifying scams and safety on Facebook.
Intergenerational learning is a next stage, where young people will work with older people on digital literacy. Pilot will finish and program launch by the end of 2019.
iParent – aimed at parents of children aged 10-14. Have tips and videos about talking to your children about various content including pornography. They also have hard copy guides for parents in a wide range of languages.
Can offer training face to face for 30+ people and run webinars.
Beyond the survey: using qualitative research methods to support evidence-based practice – Lynn Connaway
Research is about answering questions. Not just about collecting data?
Most common data collection tool in libraries is the survey method.
The data collection methods you use will depend on your question.
Sense-making: user-centred research identifies how and why individuals make sense of their environment.
Too much structure in interviews will mean you miss the possibilities of new lines of enquiry that may be raised by your interviewees or by something they have said. If speaking to strangers, then processes must include trust building, which may take extra time aside from the interview.
Visitor mode – you lurk, you watch, but you try not to leave a trail, you may use a pseudonym. A resident is present – the internet is a place that they inhabit.
Wikipedia is a valuable and well used (by students) resource as a starting point for information. Librarians should be in there. Students are told that their teachers say not to use Wikipedia, but that is not what their teachers told them. There are no digital natives and digital residents as it is not aged related.
Watch people immersed in the environment. It is amazing what data you will collect.
Cognitive mapping, diaries, mapping diaries are some ways of collecting more complex data.
If you want something from your users, get their input and whatever you take up from that, you will get buy in.
http://oc.lc/VRmap – documents where you spend your time.
Using one method doesn’t tell the whole story. A log may seem to demonstrate an unsuccessful search, but instead it could reflect a quickly satisfied query. The only way to know for sure is to follow up with the searcher. (this can be very manually intensive).
Developing literacies of the future through partnerships
Project reinforced business as usual – collaboration to deliver best outcomes to students
The program ran from late secondary through the lifetime of the student’s attendance. Partners were a local high school, different parts of the university structure as well as industry partners.
Students as Partners – together with academics, librarians, academic literacy team, learning & digital specialists, community and had curriculum makerspaces (events) – where they created curriculum together.
Highlights: partnerships and librarian as connectors and librarians as educators.
Community engagement the key to improving digital literacy levels
Digital inclusion index, in 2016 Tasmania was last but has now moved to be higher than South Australia.
Access to new and modern technologies without constraints, bookings or more has helped draw a new, young audience to the new Devonport Library.
Morning tea and a USB – with Be Connected funding. Had branded USB and seniors came and learned how to save images to USB. Had a cuppa and left with new skills and their branded USBs.
Are we digitising or digitalising: Marek Kowalkiewicz
The digital economy has given many opportunities. It is changing the way we do so many things, including work. Trust is the thing we search for, not brands.
In 10-15 years, we will look back at now and think how cool the old technology was. It will be a different scenario, even likely more different than it was 15 years ago.
Algorithms are not just the domain of computer science anymore and we need to be discriminating – if it can’t explain how it came up with the results, then no go!
Chair in Digital Economy helps organisations to navigate their way through the digital economy – it can be a maze and they help them to best avoid dead ends.
But even all the data in the world doesn’t always help us predict the future, as the disruptive event cannot be predicated – there is no data to help anticipate that. Eg. iPad, Spotify.
Best way to create the future is to create it. This is digitalisation.
We are in the age of augmentation now – the shift to connections – your smart phone is the doorway to so much more – services etc.; the service is personal but built to serve millions; experimentation is happening all the time as companies test how we use their interface and adjust as they get the data in from users.
Showed photo of driver eating and on phone. He may be more distracted by the car……. We need to be careful about what we are focusing on. Google is creating a self-driving car, because it gives the ‘passenger’ more time to spend on Google. The self-driving car could be the mobile phone of the future.
Value propositions – imagine a uni student demanding their fees back because they can’t get a job. How soon can home assistants start offering home services – enroll you in a course, do your tax return. What about your home appliances connecting to the internet for management purposes – both maintenance and supplies. Customers are now algorithms, appliances and more – robots in future – which will need to be configured for local circumstances……
Customers becoming competition – students selling their lecture notes online (spoonfeedme.com). Courses being cut and paste to create what users want. Staff becoming competition – selling their work knowledge and expertise straight to the public rather than through their workplace.
Showed video which demonstrated Alexa limiting the range of products that it offered to a requester, even though the site had a much wider range and at a higher cost than the website did. In future, we can give our specifications for what we want, it will find the best match and buy it. Then they will move to inspiring us – it will try to understand why we want something and then offer potentially better options. But what if something goes wrong?
Can you get different algorithms for the same appliances – eg. fit fridge, happy fridge, hippy fridge. And if something goes wrong, who is at fault.
We need to have a digital mind. What is now possible due to the introduction of new technologies. We can’t just translate the digital into the physical world, but also look at what is possible digitally that wasn’t possible before. It’s proactive, not just reactive.
Customer centricity is so 1997. What are the customer’s jobs to be done? You could be at McDonalds to feed your child (competition is other food) impress your children (the competition could be the games console, time with friends). In turn, if you hire something, you need to fire something else.
Oppositional thinking – take an existing proposition and turn it upside down and then how work out how you can make it happen. Pay people to park at the airport, by renting out their car. Derive – Work out how another organisation would run a library. (think about it) Proactive organisation – look to what we could do for our users before they know they want it.
