Protocols: Meeting the Challenges of Indigenous Information Needs‪.‬

In 1995, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Protocols for Libraries, Archives and Information Services (1) (hereafter the Protocols) were published to guide professional practice in relation to Indigenous Australian people and materials. The library and information context is a diverse and changing one, constantly accommodating technological and information expansion, as well as changing user needs, including changing and diverse Indigenous needs. Protocols can only ever be guidelines and must be broad enough to be interpreted across a range of organisations and circumstances. That is what we endeavoured to provide in the Protocols. The Protocols have been available for use for a decade. This chapter (2) restates the importance of Indigenous protocols for the Australian library and information sector. It provides background to the development of the Protocols. From my perspective as an Indigenous librarian who co-authored the Protocols and who has more recently been a member of the reference committee of a research project to gauge its usefulness to the profession, (3) I discuss some of the ongoing challenges. My concerns focus on the work that still needs to be done in the area of governance, professional development on Indigenous issues, employment, education and training of Indigenous professionals, as well as the role of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Resource and Information Network (ATSILIRN).