The Role of Ghana Public Libraries in the Digitization of Indigenous Knowledge: Issues and Prospects

[...]most of the information on the Internet and other databases, according to Moahi (2003), are from the western world. [...]librarians and information professionals in Africa in general and Ghana in particular should be reminding themselves that we live in a world that is saturated with myriads of information, and therefore in preserving AIK and looking forward to its wider availability it has never been more important than it is today for the information society as information system research that recognizes, supports and enables access and presence of a diverse knowledge communities online become a major concern. [...]this paper explores these issues, prospects and the role of public libraries in Ghana in digitization (the process of converting information into a digital format) of AIK, and acknowledges that the nation is made up of many ethnic groups, each with their own knowledge systems based on unrecorded and stored information/knowledge in the memories of healers, farmers, hunters, traditional midwives, fishermen, elders, chiefs and linguists; compounded by the fact that AIK in Ghana is also expressed in songs, stories, proverbs, dances, rituals, community laws, and horticulture. [...]based on a literature review, observation and my own experience with African indigenous knowledge, this paper aims to make proposals for public libraries to promote the digitization of African indigenous knowledge for sustainable development. The Manifesto further notes that the library services and collections must include all types of appropriate media and modern technologies as well as traditional materials. [...]libraries need to engage the community at a more tangible level that goes beyond passively providing book information only to also include facilitating community interaction with service providers in health, agriculture and culture.