Community consultation
Many Indigenous communities and individuals are working tirelessly to revive language in their local areas. The State Library of NSW would like to acknowledge these efforts and hope that these language resources can be utilised as part of this process.
It is important to note that the context that these records were created in are clear; they were written in most cases about Aboriginal languages by non- Aboriginal people. For this reason, the written word may not accurately reflect the ways in which an oral language was spoken and transmitted.
The Rediscovering Indigenous Languages project ongoing consultation with communities is based on the values of collaboration and respect. One of the guiding principles of the project is that Indigenous people are deeply connected to the language documentation the Library holds and that communities are to be consulted about ongoing use of the material.
The Library’s Indigenous Services team has been building connections with Aboriginal community groups to inform them about the project and the language lists the Library holds, as well as other collection materials. The team aims to establish and build long term relationships with many community groups around these resources and hopes to engage in meaningful conversation about language and cultural revitalisation.
The Library is committed to working with Indigenous people and communities to increase access to the Library's collections, and to manage them with respect of cultural protocols. The Library utilises the recently published NSLA Working with Communities: Guidelines for Collaborative Practice Between Libraries and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities (2013) to guide the consultation process for the language project.