Machine Readable Cataloguing Format (MARC 21) to Organize Indigenous Knowledge (IK) Sources for Sustainable Development of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Today Indigenous or traditional knowledge is a critical factor for sustainable development. That knowledge can be defined as the practices maintained and developed by people, generally, it is utilized in rural areas, rural People have extended histories of interaction with the natural environment. But IK has long been ignored in the world. The main focus of this research was to develop a standard Machine Readable Catalogues (MARC) format to record, share and promote the usage of IK in Sri Lanka. This study will also formulate a field selection guide and maintain uniformity in bibliographic records of IK sources in library catalogs. The study employed an online survey method to collect data from stratified randomly selected Online Public Access Catalogues (OPACs) to examine the existing metadata structure of IK. The study Disclosed that IK is not well managed and Also self-developed methods have been used by some libraries. In this case, Library professionals have not been at the forefront in terms of organizing IK also identified. Researchers proposed MARC format contains metadata about other publication types such as palm-leaf, photos, films, videos, or audio cassettes, dramas, stories, songs containing folklore, and oral pieces that are not supported by the current library catalogues. Consequently, the proposed format will promote overlooked indigenous knowledge both by members and outsiders for sustainable development.