Sherry Strump, Tsilhqot’in National Government
Bella Alphonse, Tsilhqot’in National Government
David Schaepe, Director, Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre
Kate Hennessy, Simon Fraser University
In the second panel, panellists share insights on developing access protocols and policies for newly digitized content. This panel discusses bigger-picture issues related to information access. These issues include the overall governance and the rights of individuals, families and the community. To start the conversation, Sherry Strump and Bella Alphonse from the Tsilhqot’in Nation review their experiences digitizing materials made during Traditional Use Studies. Strump and Alphonse explain issues surrounding translation, and touch on how to navigate release forms which were originally signed before the rise of the internet. Dave Schaepe, the director of the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre, discusses his experience creating a digital cultural database for the Stó:lō Nation. The database Schaepe helped to create, Stó:lō Connect, brings together information about types of land and traditional land uses in one accessible database. This brings up issues of how to store culturally important and culturally sensitive information, and how to provide access. Kate Hennessy discusses her work on community-based projects, which involved creating online access to cultural information. She notes the obstacles encountered around information sharing, circulation control, and organizational systems.