Libraries in dialogue:

Cultural heritage in museums, archives and libraries

Kim Baker

MPhil candidate, LISC, University of Cape Town

15th LIASA Annual Conference

8 – 11 October 2013

Cape Town, South Africa

Cultural heritage – what is it?

Cultural Heritage - Definitions• An extensive Literature review found no

clear definitions of Cultural Heritage in the Library context, but several partial definitions in other contexts;

• In order to map a shared territory to facilitate further exploration of Cultural Heritage in the Museums, (including Galleries), Archives and Library context that was suitably encompassing, a frame of reference was constructed in place of attempting a definition.

Cultural Heritage: frame of reference for Museums, Archives

and Libraries

“ Libraries contain collections of documents, and located within these documents are records of the cultural and intellectual life and history of the people of the world. The recorded culture can be considered to contain part of the material (tangible), as well as the intangible cultural heritageof the people of the world, and this is constantly changing up to present time….

Cultural Heritage: frame of reference for Museums, Archives and Libraries (Cont.)

“…Culture embraces a broad set of reflections ofhuman endeavour including traditions, customs, beliefs, values, religions, arts, social behavior, knowledge systems, rituals and laws. In many contexts, political systems shaped and changed cultural practices, and the factors that influence and shape the culture of people form an intrinsic part of that heritage….”

Cultural Heritage: frame of reference for Museums, Archives and Libraries

(Cont.)

“……In deference to the school of thought that is postmodernism, the formation and creation of these documents in their social and political context thus form part of the interpretive narrative within the environment of cultural heritage.”

(Baker, K. 2013. Information Literacy and Cultural Heritage: developing a model for lifelong learning. Oxford: Chandos)

Postmodernism: what is it?There is extensive exploration of Postmodernism in both the Museums and Archival fields, but libraries have not engaged with Postmodernism and how it relates to Cultural Heritage;

In the discipline of Museum Science, among many scholarly articles and books, Mason identified Jacques Derrida(Mason, 2006: 21) and Michel Foucault (ibid.: 23) as havinga significant influence on museum theory and practice, withpostmodernist deconstructions challenging traditionalpractices. This influence is evident in museums who have thoroughly re-examined their role in collecting,preserving, presenting and interpreting cultural heritage.

Postmodernism: what is it? (Cont)

Kraeutler : issues of heritage learning in museums seen as representative of a particular time, embedded in the contextualities of social and political climates. Heritage can be expressed in both materiality (collections of objects) and also in mindsets, including relations, languages and mentalities.

Heritage is not neutral and thus museums are placed to play a powerful role in connecting collections and communities, and interfacing between the tangible and intangible aspects of heritage(Kraeutler, 2008: 19)

Postmodernism: what is it? (Cont.)

Archives: Cook: Postmodernism is encouraging, through thecritical analytical tool of deconstruction, the fragmenting ofthe former modernist paradigm while encouraging ambiguity and multiple ways of seeing. Thearchive is the place where social memory is constructed, and that this construction occurs in support of the metanarratives of the powerful, and of the state. The archival record itself is now viewed as a mere trace of a missing universe, and is a mirrorthat both distorts and reflects the intentions of the creatorand the audience – it is an ever-changing cultural construct rather than a record of empirical fact (Cook, 2001: 25 -27)

Why is Postmodernism important?• Postmodernism illuminates the fact that cultural

heritage and the recording, interpretation, classification and presentation of it is CONSTRUCTED and SUBJECTIVE;

• It allows for MULTIPLE VIEWPOINTS;

• It emphasizes CONTEXT;

• In allowing for the above points, it allows for the recognition of MEMORY as an intrinsic component of cultural heritage and takes into account the fact that MEMORY is subjective;

• It allows for CONTESTED HISTORY to enter the interpretative narrative, thus opening the way for critical thinking and debate, rather than mere propaganda of those in power. It thus moves away from EXCLUSION to INCLUSION.

Why is allowing multiple views important in cultural heritage?

Why is Memory flawed?Appaiah: Archives are a construct of history, often directed by state officials, and thus the politics of memory influences every state and every creation of identity - which means that memories become political, and always, there are groups of people selected for inclusion, and others for exclusion.(Appaiah, 2011 : 99–100).

Jimerson: Four categories of memory - personal,collective, historical and archival . Collective memory associal memory is seldom examined for reliability,authenticity and validity. Personal memory as eyewitness testimony is subject to the fact that memory can change over time or be influenced by distorting personal biases.(Jimerson, 2003: 89 – 90)

Essential questions with regard to cultural heritage

Museums and archives have been asking these questions for more than a decade:

• Who defines cultural heritage?• Who created it, and what were the contextual

influences on them and their creation of it?• In selecting what to collect, preserve and present:

Who decides? What influences their decision on what to include, and what to exclude, and why?

• Who describes it, and what are the personal biases they have? Are all these contextual factors included with the narrative?

Libraries have seldom asked these questions when embarking on digitization projects of cultural heritage.

Cultural Heritage in Digital Information Contexts

Marshall: The reduction of data into binary code (digitization) meant that it can be altered and manipulated – thus integrity of data is not always a given (Marshall: 2004: 17)

Lacey: Digital images convey a representation,With the development of digitization comes the increase in power to manipulate images, change them and transmit them instantly and widely. As more people become media literate and aware that the media deals with representation and not reality, the more likely they are to question and not just accept them at face value (Lacey, 1998: 222 - 224).

Cultural Heritage in the Digital World: Challenges to authority

Tredinnick: Transglobal cultural formations not shaped by corporate organizations are now possible in the digital world, and thus interactions are no longer being shaped from the top down but, rather, from the bottom up From this, it can be noted that the traditional institutions of museums, archives and libraries’ role as exclusive purveyors of cultural heritage are being significantly challenged. (Tredinnick: 2006: 65).

Cameron: The UNESCO Memory of the World Programmehas little critical reflexivity as to what heritage means in thecontext of the current heritage debates. Digital heritage is a selective pool of materials deemed worthy for preservation for posterity, and this considered a Eurocentric idea for producing identity (Cameron: 2008: 172).

Cultural Heritage in the Digital World: Challenges to authority

(Cont.)Cameron: Items selected to be preserved rely onselection criteria of what is deemed to be valuable, and thusother items are silenced (ibid.: 177). UNESCO exercises cultural authority over the processes of making meaning (ibid.: 179–80).

Cameron: Different groups who are outside of the deemed authorities, such as UNESCO and other official bodies, are using their own criteria to craft their own identities and cultural materials in digital format, and this is being facilitated by social media. The Internet enables an independent definition of position to ignoring the domination by authorities such as UNESCO. Communities are thus subverting the cultural domination of traditional institutions. Individuals can use socialmedia to reconstitute their own cultural codes and disrupt,challenge and subvert established hierarchies of digitalheritage selection (Cameron: 172-180)

Cultural Heritage in the Digital World: Challenges to accessibility

and usabilityFor purposes of brevity, a few are highlighted here:

• Two thirds of the world do not as yet have access to the Internet;

• Of the one third that has access, many cannot afford the costly bandwidth packages that allow for viewing of high bandwidth digital collections;

• Placing content of cultural heritage on the Internet does not imply discoverability;

• Even if it is discovered, this does not imply integration of the information, critical analysis and use of it to create new knowledge

Enter the Libraries: Information Literacy!

Libraries have the opportunity to make themselves relevant to the cultural heritage sector, as they have one unique asset to offer: the well developed pedagogy of Information Literacy (Or, Media and Information Literacy as it is now termed).

Libraries and the role of Information Literacy in Cultural Heritage

• Libraries have a well developed pedagogy of Information Literacy which can easily be integrated with Cultural Heritage training in Museums, Archives and Libraries;

• Review of the main models of Information Literacy: The Big6™; the Stripling and Pitts Research Process Model (REACTS), Pappas and Tepe’s Pathways to Knowledge Model; the Digital Information Fluency Model (21CIF); Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process Model; the SCONUL Seven Pillars of Information Skills Model; ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education; the ANZIL (Australian and New Zealand Information Literacy) Framework; and the UNESCO Information Literacy Indicators – revealed NONE were found to be suitable in for this purpose.

A new model: Information Literacy and Cultural Heritage for lifelong learning

To overcome this problem, a new model has been developed for Museums, Archives and Libraries to converge to teach Information Literacy and Cultural Heritage awareness for lifelong learning for the general public, which is a dialectic synthesis of the Didactic, Positivist tradition of Libraries, and the Constructivist, Postmodernist approach of Museums and Archives for both Digital and Non-Digital contexts.

Summary Outline of the ModelCatalysts:

The learning environment – museums (including galleries); archives; libraries

Components : Carrier, Content and Context

Core processes and tasks: Discover; Learn; Evaluate; Create; Share; Feedback; Modify

Generic learning outcomes: Skills; Attitudes and values; Knowledge and Understanding; Behaviour and activity; Enjoyment, inspiration, creativity. Measurement: Personal Meaning mapping (PMM)

Contextual fluidity: (Allows for the model to be adapted to different cultural contexts, political environments and rapidly changing technologies and developments)

Contribution from Libraries and Information Literacy:

How to discover, assess, critically evaluate arguments, learn logical thinking, and use information to create new knowledge.

From Museums and Archives: Cultural Heritage awareness:

Understand cultural heritage in terms of context, memory and contested history, learn about different worldviews without being threatened by them (worldview literacy; tolerance and respect for different cultures locally and globally)

ReferencesAppaiah, K.A. (2011) Identity, politics, and the archive. In X. Mangcu (ed.), Becoming Worthy Ancestors: Archive, Public Deliberation and Identity in South Africa. Johannesburg: Wits University Press (pp. 99-100).

Baker, K. (2013). Information Literacy and Cultural Heritage: developing a model for lifelong learning. Oxford: Chandos (pp. 8).

Cameron, F. (2008) The politics of heritage authorship: the case of digital heritage collections. In Y.E. Kalay, T. Kvan and J. Affleck (eds.), New Heritage: New Media and Cultural Heritage. London and New York: Routledge/ Taylor & Francis (pp. 172–180).Cook, T. (2001) Fashionable nonsense or professional rebirth: postmodernism and the practice of archives. Archivaria 51: 25-27.

Jimerson, R.C. (2003) Archives and memory. OCLC Systems & Services 19(3): 89–90.

Kraeutler, H. (2008) Rich issues with reason – museums and heritage learning. In H. Kraeutler (ed.), Heritage Learning Matters: Museums and Universal Heritage. Proceedings of the ICOM/CECA 2007 Conference, Vienna, 20–4 August 2007: 19

Lacey, N. (1998) Image and Representation: Key Concepts in Media Studies. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave. (pp. 222 – 224)

Marshall, P.D. (2004) New Media Cultures. London: Arnold. (pp. 17)

Mason, R. (2006) Cultural theory and museum studies. In S. Macdonald (ed.), A Companion to Museum Studies. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing (pp. 21-23)

Tredinnick, L. (2006) Digital Information Contexts: Theoretical Approaches to Understanding DigitalInformation. Oxford: Chandos Publishing. (pp. 65).

Thank you for your attention!

Kim Baker

MPhil CandidateLibrary and Information Studies CentreUniversity of Cape Town, South Africa

Blog: http://kimbakercapetown.wordpress.comE-mail: kbaker.research21c@gmail.comTwitter: @iKbaker