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This paper aims to provide an introduction to Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, briefly describing their origin, population structure, language and knowledge structures. There is also a description of the process by which Māori knowledge systems were transformed into a written structure from predominantly oral and visual forms. In the latter part of the paper, there is a discussion about how the growing demand by Māori clients changed the delivery of resources and services in New Zealand libraries and led to the development of Māori collections in libraries.

Using a case study approach this paper outlines the impact that literacy and publishing had on Māori traditional knowledge transfer methods. The implication of these developments and their importance to libraries is considered as part of the Treaty of Waitangi reconciliation process and the growing consciousness of the need to be fulfilling the information needs of Māori clients.

The development of Māori collection has been successful and plays a critical role in meeting the cultural, linguistic, research and recreational information needs of Māori clients.

This case study provides a model for the development of indigenous collections in other countries.

This paper makes a contribution to an area that has not had a significant amount of literature published on it.

This paper aims to provide an overall picture of the application of Web 2.0 technologies in Australasian university libraries. The focus of the research was what types of Web 2.0 technologies were applied in such libraries as well as their purposes and features.

Content analysis was used in terms of quantitative approach. A checklist as the main research instrument was developed based on other checklists and questionnaires, and synthesized ideas from literature. Data were collected by accessing all Australasian university library web sites within two weeks. Then, Microsoft Excel was utilized as a main tool to synthesize and analyze data, and present results.

At least two‐thirds of Australasian university libraries deployed one or more Web 2.0 technologies. Only four Web 2.0 technologies were used for specific purposes and with some basic features. The general Web 2.0 application indexes were still low as the mean application index was 12 points and the highest index was 37 points (out of 100).

A combination of content analysis with survey and/or interview may enable future researchers to analyze other aspects (e.g. the application of internal wikis or the use of instant messaging for reference services) of Web 2.0 that a single method of content analysis could not gain.

This unique study explores the application of Web 2.0 in a wide scope including any Australasian university libraries that deployed any types of Web 2.0 technologies. This study is useful for Australasian university libraries in evaluating/deploying Web 2.0. Library managers, librarians and other university libraries may also find this helpful once they want to implement such technologies in their libraries.

This paper aims to explore definitions and notions of what a community archive is, and the tensions between different understandings of community archives.

The paper is a critical analysis of community archives definitions and understanding from researchers and practitioners across the wider heritage information sector.

Community archives are a growing area of interest for researchers because of the archives’ intrinsic link to the community and their provision of the evidence of it. While discussion often focuses on a paradigm of transformative purpose, existing definitions around community archives continue to be tenuous, reflecting different real or perceived types and practices and the perspective of the author and the sector they work within. Variations in definition can also occur because of differences in perspective around theory and practice, with many practitioner-based definitions intrinsically bound with the community they represent. This can result in community archives being defined as “alternative” based on mainstream practice or “political” based on theoretical purview, or “meeting the needs of community” by the community archivists themselves.

The paper is conceptual and does not attempt to provide one definition that covers the perceived extent of community archives. It is part of work in progress on the nature of community archives and the impact such discourse may have on archival theory and practice.

This paper provides an overview of some of the key issues and themes impacting a definition of community archives, and in doing so works towards a broader understanding the nature of community archives. In most cases, the concept of “community” seems to provide a common definitive element and practitioner definitions focus on addressing the needs of self-defined community to a greater or lesser extent.

This investigation aims to highlight the need for the information professions globally to value diverse knowledge paradigms in a world where people from diverse cultures and backgrounds interact with information on a daily basis. We provide examples from the Library and Information Science (LIS) profession in New Zealand which has been shaped by socially and culturally inclusive education and practices which take into account diverse ways of knowing and understanding the world and information.

An investigation into socially and culturally inclusive LIS education initiatives worldwide contextualizes a discussion of current LIS curricula in New Zealand and their delivery. The achievements and challenges in LIS education, the library profession, and library service are considered alongside the rich and varied nature of New Zealand society and the provision and accessibility of library services.

LIS education is at the start of this process, and New Zealand education providers promote a range of socially and culturally inclusive practices within their programs resulting in LIS graduates who are equipped to make ongoing contributions to an inclusive society through their professional work. We conclude that these three inseparable components of LIS in New Zealand result in social and cultural inclusion, but can always be further enhanced.

This chapter draws attention to the absence of consideration for non-Western knowledge paradigms in LIS curricula worldwide, and brings together diverse examples, mandating for library services and a library profession that reflect the rich social and cultural makeup of the communities we serve. We conclude that three inseparable components of LIS in New Zealand result in social and cultural inclusion, and there is always opportunity for further enhancement.

to provide a bicultural perspective on the views of people who have completed cancer treatment and, of health providers.

Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 29 individuals (people who had recently completed cancer treatment and health providers). General inductive analysis was undertaken with all interview data, and a Kaupapa Māori approach was employed with the data from Māori participants.

Themes for Māori participants are as follows: (1) understanding health information is enhanced by connection and relationship; (2) the “professional” is personal and (3) enduring beyond cancer is “our” responsibility. Themes for non-Māori participants are as follows: (1) from survivorship to living with and beyond cancer; (2) from the hospital to primary care and (3) support for living with and beyond cancer.

Positive relationships, communication and self-determination are important for Māori making the transition from hospital to the community after cancer treatment. Well-coordinated processes and services are vital for supporting transitions from hospital to community for non-Māori living with and beyond cancer.

This research presents the diversity of Māori and non-Māori experiences of living with and beyond cancer, adding to the limited New Zealand literature regarding post-treatment supportive care. This paper is among the first to undertake separate interviews and thematic analyses of Māori and non-Māori experiences, and to report these separately. Determinants of positive survivorship experiences are identified, specifying a central and expanded role for cancer care services.

The extent of Internet access is a key indicator of the Maori people’s ability to use information technologies for social, e‐commerce and e‐government communication. The key findings from national surveys of Internet use during 2000 and 2001, together with census data, provide an indication of Internet access amongst Maori. The results show there is a substantial “digital divide” between Maori and other New Zealanders, in terms of access to the Internet and employment in information technology industries. This “divide” is likely to be due to the lower household incomes and educational outcomes of Maori adults. While Maori currently do not have the same level of access to information technology as non‐Maori, the growth in their participation has nonetheless been rapid.

This paper argues that one can extract relevant lessons in the information technology era from one’s colonial past. One such lesson is to understand how information technologies might further impact on one’s knowledge. While there are many recent information technology projects, they are often ad hoc and in “pilot” or “trial” mode, reducing any chance of sustainability or “proof of concept”. However, experience has taught people some of the pitfalls, management and effectiveness of information technology, and the capacity to understand, select and critique is increasing. Thus, the edge of the tide creeps slowly forward.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the different aspects of language that are present in the signage, handouts and websites of public libraries. It discusses the extent to which this language reflects the varying demographics of library clients.

This paper reports on a qualitative study, which took a document analysis approach and utilised an inductive-coding technique to analyse data collected from four lower North Island libraries in New Zealand.

Five language aspects were identified from the collected data: monolingual, bilingual and multilingual language; language context; welcoming and prohibitive language; language consistency; and jargon. The nature and incidence of these aspects were evaluated for each of the four libraries. In some cases, the libraries achieve an accurate reflection of client demographics through their language. However, each library could make some changes to their use of language to better accommodate their distinct communities.

This paper suggests that modifying library language to better reflect client demographics will contribute to an atmosphere of inclusion, welcome and acceptance. Such an atmosphere will promote information access for all members of the community. Recommendations for change are made, as well as suggestions for future research.

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge on communication and language in libraries, particularly in a New Zealand context where there is a paucity of research on this topic. This paper benefits libraries and clients by identifying patterns, contrasts and potential improvements.

This chapter presents results of a study that investigated the social information grounds of 45 Māori students ages 16–18 when they are at school.

A mixed research method was used. The quantitative approach was based on a survey questionnaire that was distributed to the students to gather data about their social information behaviour in four schools. The qualitative approach used six focus groups of students to discuss the behaviour.

Māori students exchange, share and seek information within their social networks in six different places in their schools. These places are best described as social information grounds, as defined by Fisher, Naumer, Durrance, Stromski, and Christiansen (2005).

The research identifies the importance that Māori students place on information obtained through interpersonal transactions particularly within their social networks. These social networks play an integral role in assisting Māori students to understand the social and educational environment of which they are part.

This chapter focuses on information grounds and indigenous teenage youth, an understudied area of research. It uses the information grounds theory to explore the social networks of Māori secondary school students in New Zealand.

The emergence of digital government and the requirement for citizens to exchange information with government online have raised a number of issues related to personal information held by government. These include questions about the confidence of citizens concerning the security and privacy of information they provide to government, on‐ or offline, and whether different cultural attitudes to issues such as personal identity might impact on citizens' attitudes towards privacy. This paper aims to investigate these issues.

This paper reports and comments on the experiences and concerns of citizens in both New Zealand and Japan, based on focus groups and interviews. The New Zealand research included indigenous Maori, immigrant Pacific Islands groups and other ethnic communities.

Although all groups had concerns about information privacy, the nature of these concerns varied among the different groups interviewed and among individuals. Explanations of the attitudes and perceptions made in each group reflect cultural values and concepts of personal identity, and illustrate the importance of being aware of the differences between individualist and collectivist cultures.

The research was based on a number of small studies, with limited numbers of participants. The findings would be strengthened by expanding the research to include larger numbers of participants.

The findings are significant to the development of policies for securing the confidentiality of citizens in the way government handles personal information in the online environment and in the ways in which these policies are communicated to citizens.