Ulwazi-Sharing indegenous knowledge: Digital access: Durban, South Africa ulwazi

1. Ulwazi-Sharing indegenous knowledge: Digital access: Durban, South Africaulwazi.org

2. Durban, South Africa Durban is second largest city in South Africa Population: 3.5m Situated in the Eastern Seaboard of Southern Africa Population made up of different communities predominantly African Zulu speaking people followed by Indians, Coloureds and Whites

3. The city also has a number of immigrants from various parts of Africa and the world at large The city is administered by eThekwini Municipality Within the municipality there are 92 public libraries, 4 container libraries, 2 mobile libraries, a Housebound library Service and 15 Special Libraries

5. Ulwazi program Ulwazi is an isiZulu name for knowledge It was initiated in 2008 The aim is to collect, preserve and disseminate indigenous knowledge of communities in the greater Durban area It deals mainly with oral history, shared or specialised knowledge held by some community members

6. To empower citizens through digital skills development, preservation of their indigenous knowledge and fostering of a knowledge sharing culture

7. The Ulwazi program is designed for digital library of local and indigenous knowledge in which content is created by the community Public libraries are used to carry the program to local communities.

8. Communities access the programme through Internet cafes located in public libraries Libraries also act as moderators and custodians of the online knowledge resource Individual members of the community can also access the program in their own computers through the web link

9. Motivation and objectives eThekwini Library and Heritage Department’s long term strategy is to provide an equitable information service to all sectors of the public Ulwazi programme is designed to provide a framework for a digital library of local and indigenous knowledge whose content is created by the community The programme aims to fill the gap in the information derived from and disseminated through oral tradition

10. To provide equitable information service to all sectors of the public The program favours dictum that development is about people and thus adopted bottom up approach

11. Strives towards inclusivity where all members of the community are encouraged to participate Provide a platform to preserve a meaningful aspects of the past and present lives of people living in Durban Provides means by which different communities can develop an appreciation of each other’s unique cultural contribution to the city.

12. Community participation Volunteer field workers are drawn from the immediate communities to drive the program at ground level They engage with prominent community leaders to obtain their understanding and support All community members are encouraged to participate and take ownership of the programme Main role players are community leaders, community workers and field workers

13. Involvement of community stakeholders

14. Methodology Field workers are dispersed to communities to find stories deemed to have cultural and historical value One of the selection criteria is that they reside and have intimate knowledge of their community This foster easy access to and trust of community members Volunteer are provided with the camera and recording device They were trained in interviewing skills Most of them do not have formal education beyond grade 12 The whole community is encouraged to embrace the programme

15. Training of volunteers

16. Field workers are dedicated to find stories in their communities Stories are submitted and discussed at monthly forum meetings Selected stories are then translated, edited and uploaded on to the website The programme is co-ordinated from a central programme office Central Office assists with data capturing, transcriptions, image processing and archiving

17. Volunteers before going out

18. Social Web Technology Ulwazi is searchable from different categories this includes: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ulwazi-Programme/100480173348884?ref=hl Twitter https://twitter.com/ulwaziprogramme It contains a blog which enhances interactivity

19. Articles have rich visual component with photographs and video clips from primary sources The website has an interactive heritage map that identifies heritage sites where historical events took place Members of the public can leave comments or questions at the end of each article

20. The website accepts articles from all members of the community, young and old It is aesthetically appealing to casual readers and researchers Content manager tracks activities on the website and does editing whenever necessary Users can register on the website for regular updates through newsletter which is update regularly

21. The programme is also being referred to in numerous academic journals The website has a mobile application to allow access via smart phones Content manager fields all queries and redirects them to relevant individuals if necessary The Ulwazi programme was a runner up for the 2012 Highway Africa New Media Awards on the category ‘Community engagement with technology’

22. The role of the Public library Public libraries are anchor partners in the programme Ethekwini Municipality has 23 Cyber zones (internet Cafes) in various libraries Cyber zones are mainly in previously disadvantaged communities with a few in the city centre Librarians in these facilities have been trained to work with communities and schools to collect information to be uploaded to the website

23. Topics covered include history of specific areas, names of places, buildings, food, family names, etc Marketing of the service is achieved through advertising within the library, outreach activities word of mouth, meetings with community leaders The librarian can also target specific schools to and create focus groups that research specific information Partnerships with other local institutions such as museums, community organisations and educational institutions are also encouraged.

24. Monitoring and evaluation

25. Map showing spread of users from around the world.

26. Traffic and usage Most visitors found the Ulwazi website through search engines, with Google being the major entry point. Referrals again increased with Facebook, ZuluCulture.co.za, Yahoo Groups and Wikipedia all directing visitors to the Ulwazi Programme website.

27. Popular Content 67,365 pages were read on the Ulwazi Programme’s website in May2013, with the most popular pages being “Izaga zesiZulu nokusetshenziswa kwazo”(Zulu idioms and how to use them) “Amaphupho Nezincazelo Zawo” (dreams and their interpretations) “TraditionalDance” and the Culture category. The Soji recipe(Indian cultural desert used mainly in weddings and big celebrations) page also remained popular. Popular content on the Facebook page include the notification of the ‘Google Drive now in Zulu’

28. This graph shows who the Ulwazi Programme’s Facebook fans are and where they come from.

29. Conclusion Ulwazi programme has grown to encompass a diverse range of topics of interests without necessarily missing the original idea The programme's ability to be accessed and understood at all levels makes it appealing to users. Through this programme disadvantaged communities gain online access to their own indigenous knowledge They also participate in the global information society thus bridging digital divide

30. Economic empowerment of communities through skills development, knowledge provision and social networking carry the potential of job creation and progress in poverty alleviation Collaboration brings about cross-cultural understanding and tolerance thus improving social cohesion Through this program the public library is given an opportunity to reaffirm its relevance in an era of technological advancements Ulwazi.org