Implementation
Features
The implementation of this project is characterised by the following elements:
Broad Scope
- Incorporates numerous areas of Indigenous knowledge
- Contains a richness of information
Relational Design
- Reflects Indigenous Knowledge Systems
- Allows for flexibility with language and naming
Advanced features
- Indigenous genealogy recording
- Adaptive text search
- GIS mapping
Project Overview
We are implementating the project in three stages:
Stage I:
Researching Indigenous Knowledge - data modelling and consultation with local Indigenous people to ensure model reflects Indigenous Knowledge System and is reflective of Indigenous needs and expectations
Digitising existing information
Stage II:
Designing and implementing base system
- consultation with local Indigenous community members and other potential users to design user-friendly browser interfaces
- collaboration with researchers and other Aboriginal communities to ensure that the system can be used for other language groups, and there is built-in transferability
Implementing advanced features
- Indigenous genealogy recording
- Adaptive text search
- GIS mapping
Stage III:
- Providing information and services
- DVDs eg. of plant and animal information
- CDs eg. of stories and clan songs
- system available for browsing on dedicated computers at schools and libraries
- Encouraging contemporary recording
- training of local Indigenous people in sound and film recording and photo capture
- training and employment in adding material to the database
Technical Information
The core of Memory Place is a relational database which represents the various connections between many facets of Indigenous knowledge. This information and the relationships are displayed using a browser based interface which is being prototyped using Ruby on Rails. The database is currently PostgreSQL, but can be adapted to make use of another SQL database if needed.
More technical details of the project are available on our sourceforge project site.
Licensing
Memory Place is Copyright to Anindilyakwa Land Council. Memory Place is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. Go to www.sveinbjorn.org/license to read about this license.
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used license for free software projects. The following explanation of "free software" is from the GNU Project website www.gnu.org/:
"Free software" is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free" as in "free speech", not as in "free food".
Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:
- The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
- The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
- The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
- The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
Anindilyakwa Land Council and NT Library are unable to support software at this time and do not warrant any issues that may arise from using this software. People who use this software do so at their own risk.