3rd September - Dreaming 08 Conference

580 delegates

Time to plan for IFLA August 2010 - Brisbane

1. Plenary: Prof Martin Nakata

Towards Guidelines and Practices in Australian Indigenous Digital Collections

· Prof Martin Nakata, Director of Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning & Chair of Australian Indigenous, UTS, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Public Collecting Institutions traverse complex terrains in the digital environment when dealing with Indigenous collections, copyright and Intellectual property regimes, and Indigenous people’s needs and concerns. The need for consistent standards and protocols for digital repositories across the Collections sector is now urgent. Prof Nakata will speak to these issues in his Keynote Address, and report findings of a research collaboration with three Australian State Libraries into potential standards and protocols for progressing consistent digitisation practices with Indigenous materials in public institutions.

2. The Fridge : Communication Matters at the SLV – Greg Honeyman

3. Sharing the DREAM: Libraries as Community Hubs – Margaret Birtley

4. Who are the Virtual Visitors to the Library and What are they doing? – Dr Vivian K. Waller

5. Plenary: Anita Heiss

Indigenous Literacy: A National Crisis

· Anita Heiss, University of QLD & Flinders University, AustLit - Black Words Database, Australia

The development of English literacy skills is important for the life opportunities of Indigenous children and youth. Literacy "provides them with the necessary skills to interact within mainstream society and avail themselves of the broadest range of civic, social, educational and employment possibilities". (Mellor and Corrigan, 2004)

However, in 2008 there is an enormous gap in the English literacy rates of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Australia. The gap is even wider for Indigenous people living in remote and isolated communities. September 3 marks the second national Indigenous Literacy Day which aims to raise urgently needed funds for Indigenous literacy.

This presentation will introduce the Indigenous Literacy Project, it's key aims and achievements to date, as well as showcasing a range resources and strategies that librarians and teacher / librarians can use to engage Indigenous children in the classroom and community members at local libraries.