Aborigines

1
Aborigines the On-line environment Accessing
Libraries and other Resources in the field of
dreams
_at_ North Mackay Community Development Employment
Program CDEP June 2002
William Oates Head of CQU-Nulloo Yumbah
2
If you Build it they will come

• Promotion of a new social and economic paradigm
  digital divide
• Telecommunications deregulation and the partial
  sale of Telstra raises billions of . NTN is
  conceived
• 50 of all ICT programs are Commonwealth the
  majority of these are NTN.
• NTN costs 325 million to deliver 696 projects Oz
  wide.
• Indigenous specific costs 35.1 million for 60
  projects Oz wide
• Australian Government ICT policies and Aboriginal
  people (1998-2002)

3
Targeted Groups
3rd largest group
(Source National Office for the Information
Economy 2001)
4
Without the education training as well as wider
ATSI community accessibility the money could be
wasted
Why so small??
Why so large??
(Source National Office for the Information
Economy 2001)
5
NTN CapConnect to provide community access to
Computers and the Internet beyond a privilege few

• One of sixty projects nationally.
• CQU-Nulloo Yumbah received monies to establish
  and maintain a project covering Central and North
  coastal Queensland through to Townsville.
• The project focused on embedding hardware and
  software into existing organisations but making
  them community accessible.

6

• CAPRICORNIA CONNECT

Problems experienced implementing the project

• Project was too large in terms of depth and
  scope.

Barcaldine Central West Aboriginal Corporation
(May 2002)
Townsville Magani Malu Kes (April 2002)
Winton District Aboriginal Corporation (April
2002)
Mackay Mackay District Legal Service (Feb 2002)
7
The Depth Scope of its Operations
Townsville
Mackay
Rockhampton
Winton
8

• CAPRICORNIA CONNECT

Problems experienced implementing the project

• leadership and ownership at the local level
  problematic
• Organisations can be seen as family based which
  is fine if you are on speaking terms with the
  family.
• If the leader is looking after the best
  interest of themselves and their own organisation
  at the expense of the other families and
  organisations in town then he or she who
  owns the NTN computers dictates access and the
  localised success of the project.

9

• CAPRICORNIA CONNECT

Problems experienced implementing the project

• Too much money spent on hardware infrastructure
  and not enough for education, training and
  marketing.

Hardware Infrastructure hard at work for a
staff member of an ATSI organisation but
wheres the community access?
10

• CAPRICORNIA CONNECT

Problems experienced implementing the project

• Inappropriate evaluation emphasis by Canberra
  (NTN) for outcomes based on online access and
  experience.
• Emphasis should have been on family issues and
  fun stuff as one community member suggested.
  T-shirts, birthday cards, photos rather than
  on-line and web development.
• Problem with community keeping logs of use (only
  1/15)
• Qualitative measures more applicable with first
  time users
• The rhetoric of enabling e-access e-education
  didnt match reality.
• Sustainability expectations are unfounded (no
  point talking e-business if you do not have a job
  let alone a business)

11

• CAPRICORNIA CONNECT

Problems experienced implementing the project

• Wrong type of hardware purchased in original
  round of funding
• the trouble with bad Apples in remote areas like
  Winton
• Most organisations preferred the cheaper entry
  level windows computers
• Difficulty with servicing computers from remote
  areas.
• Cost of freight to and from Central Admin.
  Supply of backup computer doubled costs.

12

• CAPRICORNIA CONNECT

Problems experienced implementing the project

• Organisations existing computer infrastructure
  inhibited the role of CapConnect
• the trouble with bad Apples in remote areas like
  Winton
• Most organisations preferred the cheaper entry
  level windows computers. Compatibility with
  organisations exiting machines and network.
• Difficulty with servicing computers from remote
  areas.
• Cost of freight to and from Central Admin.
  Supply of backup computer doubled costs.

13

• CAPRICORNIA CONNECT

Problems experienced implementing the project

• The tendency for member Organisations to see
  CapConnect (NTN) as a bucket of funds to offset
  expenditure already funded from other Government
  funding.
• One organisation submitted invoices for
  activities already funded by other government
  funds
• Organisations could claim loss of equipment and
  claim reimbursement based on allegedly stolen
  items.

14

• CAPRICORNIA CONNECT

Problems experienced implementing the project

• NTN Computers embedded in ATSI Organisations have
  not been accessed in any significant way by the
  wider Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander
  communities
• organisations had the CapConnect computer only
  for the use of staff.
• Some computers were sitting on the Managers desk
• Reluctance of community to use computers in an
  organisation

15

• CAPRICORNIA CONNECT

Problems experienced implementing the project A
summary

• Project is too large in terms of depth and scope.
  
• Leadership and ownership at the local level
  problematic
• Too much money spent on resources for hardware
  infrastructure and not enough for education,
  training and marketing.
• Too much evaluation emphasis by Canberra (NTN)
  for outcomes based on online access and
  experience.
• Wrong type of hardware purchased
• Organisations existing computer infrastructure
  inhibited the role of CapConnect
• The tendency for member Organisations to see
  CapConnect (NTN) as a bucket of funds to offset
  expenditure already funded from other Government
  funding
• NTN Computers embedded in ATSI Organisations have
  not been accessed in any significant way by the
  wider Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander
  communities

16

• CAPRICORNIA CONNECT

The Project was founded on an wrong assumption
that caused serious problems implementing the
project
Government assumed that access to Aboriginal
community is best through ATSI organisational
life and that community on-line access should
be through ATSI organisations. It was built
and they didnt come
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CQ ATSI People ICT Connectivity Usage
Training _at_ Mudyth Niyleta - Sarina
_at_ Mackay Aboriginal and Torres Strait Legal
Service

• The more remote organisations demonstrate
  greater awareness, leadership, collaboration and
  networking compared to their more urban cousins.
• Many CQ ATSI whether at home or in a community
  organisation have very low levels of ICT
  connectivity and PC usage.

Connectivity - 81 of ATSI within CQ do not use
the internet ANYWHERE. (68 for non-ATSI) (source
ABS 2001)
Computer Usage _at_ Home - 78 of ATSI within CQ do
not use a computer _at_ home (38 for non-ATSI)
(source ABS 2001)
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Aborigines the On-line environment
If ATSI Organisations are problematic then
through what whom?

• University Students

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Aborigines the On-line environment
The 300 or so ATSI students at CQU are
representative slices of their communities
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Aborigines the On-line environment
University ATSI Students want need on-line
access
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Aborigines the On-line environment
They are the key to accessing communities and
they are role models for accessing information
resources on-line to their families and extended
families (community).
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Aborigines the On-line environment
Majority of ATSI students at CQU are mature age
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Aborigines the On-line environment
University ATSI Students have support from staff
and have access to a 24 hour computer lab
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Aborigines the On-line environment
There is an eagerness and willingness for ATSI
students to embrace the technology, at uni
everything is on-line (enrolment, handbook,
timetables, Library) what is missing is a
computer and connectivity.
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Aborigines the On-line environment
The big need is for access to computers and
on-line resources in the home
26
Aborigines the On-line environment
The money spent on NTN could have been spent
where it was needed and had a more lasting effect
on the families who make up a community. Univers
ity Aboriginal Centres could be allocated monies
for computers and training for every ATSI
student. Computers could be Library based and
borrowed as long as the student is successfully
enrolled.
27
Role of Libraries in Online environment

• CQU-Nulloo Yumbahs Library and Keeping Place is
  now a campus library of the main CQU library.
  All CQU Students and wider ATSI community can
  access, borrow and keep cultural artefacts and
  histories in a safe environment.
• In 2003 we seeking funds to establish a virtual
  Keeping Place in collaboration with Distributed
  Systems Technology for ATSI communities
  throughout Queensland.

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• A Virtual Keeping Place

A DSTC CQU-Nulloo Yumbah Initiative
Indigenous Collections Management Project

• Project Overview
• The Distributed Systems Technology CRC is
  currently undertaking a collaborative project
  with the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum
  of the American Indian (NMAI) Cultural Resources
  Centre (CRC) and Nulloo Yumbah. The objective of
  this project is to investigate how information
  technology tools and standards can be refined and
  extended to enable Indigenous communities to
  preserve and protect their unique Indigenous
  cultures, knowledge and artefacts whilst
  supporting traditional protocols and facilitating
  better cross-cultural communication and
  understanding.

29

• A Virtual Keeping Place

A DSTC CQU-Nulloo Yumbah Initiative
Indigenous Collections Management Project

• The Specific Project Goals are to
• Collaborate with Indigenous communities or
  custodial organisations (museums, archives,
  cultural centres) holding collections of
  culturally-sensitive resources which they would
  like to preserve, protect and repatriate

30

• A Virtual Keeping Place

A DSTC CQU-Nulloo Yumbah Initiative
Indigenous Collections Management Project

• The Specific Project Goals continued

Work with Indigenous communities to determine
their requirements with respect to the
content description, annotation and search
interface tools the customary laws and
protocols which apply to the handling,
storage and access to these resources (both
physical and digital) e.g. gender-based
access elder-only access role-based access
kinship-based access sorrow business -
restricted access during mourning periods the
definition and enforcement of these customary
laws using information technology tools.
31

• A Virtual Keeping Place

A DSTC CQU-Nulloo Yumbah Initiative
Indigenous Collections Management Project

• The Specific Project Goals continued

Develop metadata models and schemas which
satisfy the indexing, search, retrieval and
access-control requirements of Indigenous
communities Develop open source software
tools and IT security mechanisms (encryption,
authentication, digital signatures etc.), which
enable Indigenous communities to easily describe,
annotate and control access to resources in their
collections Implement search and retrieval
interfaces to Indigenous collections which
enforce tribal protocols by restricting access
and retrieving search results depending on the
user's profile and authority
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The University Library must take a key role in

• Equipping ATSI students to represent their
  communities. University Students are an under
  utilized resource. As representatives of the
  rich diversity of ATSI communities in Queensland
  and other states we have ready access to the
  communities through the students.
• Equipping ATSI students to represent the
  University Library in community. University
  students are role models and leaders in the use
  and accommodation of technology and accessing
  on-line resources.
• Equipping ATSI students to assist in the on-line
  preservation of culture, knowledge and artefacts
  for their communities. Keeping place activities
  to preserve and protect the ATSI unique localised
  ATSI culture, knowledge and artefacts whilst
  supporting community rights of access can be
  facilitated by and through the students as CQU
  representatives.

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Concluding Remarks Role of Libraries in Online
environment

• Make use of University Library infrastructure-ther
  e are approx 36 ATSI centres in universities
  across Australia
• University ATSI students are the key to accessing
  ATSI community and encouraging the accommodation
  of technology and on-line access
• If another 35.1 Million will be spent on
  encouraging ATSI people to access on-line
  environments then supply every ATSI University
  student with a computer, printer and support that
  can be borrowed through a University Library.
• On recent figures each ATSI continuing university
  student in Australia could be resourced
  (equipment and support) for on-line in the home
  (7,500 per student)

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Contacts

• William Oates
• Director Nulloo Yumbah
• Central Queensland University
• Bruce Highway Rockhampton Qld 4702
• 07 4930 9248 w.oates_at_cqu.edu.au

• Indigenous Collections Management Project
• Dr. Jane Hunter
• Senior Research Scientist, DSTC Pty Ltd Level 7,
  GP South, Staff House Rd,The University of
  QueenslandQld 4072
• 07 3365 4310
• Email jane_at_dstc.edu.au
• http//metadata.net/ICM/