Abstract:
There has been a growing need for concerted efforts towards the
capturing, preservation and formalization of indigenous knowledge for global
visibility. The thrust of this paper is to explore the role of academic libraries
in capturing and formalization of indigenous knowledge so as to help the
readers understand the ways in which indigenous knowledge is captured
and formalized in academic libraries for future use. The status of indigenous
knowledge management practices, experiences on IK creation, sharing, use and
preservation among local communities in two selected districts in Tanzania,
the benefi ts of indigenous knowledge and areas of Indigenous Knowledge
application in Tanzania are also discussed in this paper. The study suggests
that academic libraries should come up with policies and framework of
capturing and formalizing indigenous knowledge. It is therefore,concluded
that academic librarians as knowledge gatekeepers, navigators and managers of
information have a key and leading role in identifying, capturing, repackaging,
preserving and disseminating indigenous knowledge for future access and
global visibility.
