Research Question 2

To what extent does the process of cataloguing resources make the conversion from cultural knowledge to cultural capital more tractable and what are the best ways to do this? The hypothesis is that an appropriate in-the-box solution will enable the development of distributed and privately owned catalogues, leading to better understanding and trust. In turn, this will lead to more, higher-quality, aggregated catalogues that can combine public resources with discovery services for the future. The model for this is the web where experience suggests that participation builds familiarity and trust.

Note that in the original application we stated:

"Importantly, the catalogue will provide links to custodians who live outside the community and help reconnect people of the stolen generations to their country. It will avoid geographic remoteness and seasonality of visitation by providing permanent Internet access to cultural and visitor information.

The project addresses many issues raised in the "ARC Research of Interest to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Report 59", including research that is "negotiated with appropriate community members". It will provide the infrastructure for, and a means of enhancing, cultural transmission. The communities involved will derive opportunities to develop and apply new IT skills as lead agencies in the management of their cultural heritage data and places."

Repatriation of Cultural Heritage

One of the driving motivations for this project was the idea of cultural repatriation. This was expected to result from the develoment of a catalogue that would be used to identify cultural heritage related resources that are remote from the traditional Quinkan region, which is near Laura in Cape York, Australia.

Currently many resources are published on the web by those who have little expertise in their interpretation of them; almost always having entered the location where the original resources are, or taken photographs etc, without the permission of the Traditional Owners, and without permission to publish the material. This resource management tool should help potential publishers identify sources of authority for their actions, information about the processes to be followed, and teh satisfaction of being able to publish for the benefit of the Traditional Owners.

Additionally, many resources are either not located in laura or where traditional owners can enjoy them. Many of these are on the web in digital form. By making a catalogue of these resources, and allowing Traditional owners to view the resources and make their own catalogue records, this project aims to virtually repatriate those remote resources and to bring others to those who are remote.