Decolonizing archival description in African contexts
Discussion
Amara Okafor
Jan 10, 2026 1:00 PM
Jan 10, 2026 1:00 PM
How do we describe materials using descriptive standards developed in Western contexts while respecting African knowledge systems? This is a challenge many of us face.
Some approaches we've been exploring:
- Parallel descriptions using local terminology
- Community-contributed metadata
- Integration of oral history traditions
- Multilingual descriptions (important for Africa's linguistic diversity)
I'd love to hear how others are tackling this.