The Role of Libraries in the Preservation and Accessibility of Indigenous Knowledge in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Introduction The Niger Delta people have a rich body of indigenous knowledge developed over many centuries. This body of accumulated knowledge has played a vital role in agriculture, animal and human health, natural resources management, education, and other activities (Camble and Aliyu, 2008). Indigenous people, including farmers, landless labourers, women and artisans, cattle rearers, and tribes, are custodians of indigenous knowledge. Indigenous Knowledge (IK) can be broadly defined as the knowledge that an indigenous (local) community accumulates over generations of living in a particular environment (United Nations Environment Programme, n.d). This definition encompasses technologies, know-how, skills, practices, and beliefs that enable the community to achieve a stable livelihood. According to Nakata and Langton (2005), IK refers to the knowledge, innovation, and practices of indigenous and local communities around the world, developed from experience over centuries, and adapted to the local culture and environment, transmitted orally from generation to generation. IK is collectively owned and exists as stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, cultural values, norms, beliefs, rituals, local languages, and agricultural practices, including the development of plant species and animal breeds (Nakata and Langton, 2005). There is a growing appreciation of the value of IK. It has become valuable not only to those who depend on it in their daily lives, but to modern industry and agriculture as well. Warren (1991) notes that IK has made a tremendous contribution to crop production by poor farmers. Okuneye and Ayinde (2004) add that small scale resource farmers have good reasons for sticking with their local knowledge and farming practices, because modern technologies can only be successful and sustainable if IK is taken into consideration. Many libraries recognize IK as an important source of developmental information. Nakata and Langton (2005) observe that the library and information profession has a lot to learn if they are to meet the information needs of indigenous people and appropriately manage IK. This may require libraries to move outside their comfort zone. The development of services is also demanding, requiring new disciplines, technologies, and collaborations. Indigenous people continue to be generous in sharing their knowledge with libraries, and so libraries must maintain the momentum (Nakata and Langton, 2005). Objectives of the Study The objectives of the study are: * To discover the role of indigenous knowledge in Niger Delta; * To explore the effectiveness of IK management in Niger Delta libraries; * To identify how libraries manage indigenous knowledge; * To examine how libraries create access to indigenous knowledge; and * To investigate the challenges of preservation and accessibility of indigenous knowledge. Literature Review Preservation of Indigenous Knowledge in the Library It is difficult to define IK because it varies along with the indigenous people of the world (Stephen, 2008). Common features have been identified, to create a working definition, such as this one provided by UNESCO: Indigenous knowledge refers to a complete body of knowledge, know how and practices maintained and developed by people, generally in rural areas, who have extended histories of interaction with the natural environment. These sets of understandings, interpretations and meanings are part of a cultural complex that encompasses language, naming and classification systems, practices for using resources, ritual, and spirituality and worldview. It provides the basis for local level decision-making about many fundamental aspects of day-to- day life. Indigenous communities preserve and transmit knowledge using techniques like oral storytelling and experiential instruction. Battiste and Hendersen (2004) state that IK systems can only be understood through the methods of a particular community, such as apprenticeships, ceremonies, and practice, and in the environment in which the system originates. …