An exploration of the ethical implications of the digitisation and dissemination of Mātauranga Māori (with special reference to the Pei te Hurinui Jones Collection)

摘要

At the core of this thesis is the ethical implications involved in the digitising of Mātauranga Māori. It investigated how Kaupapa Māori theory can inform this process and how issues relating to access were considered. It is intended that this information should provide whānau, hapū, iwi and institutions with a solid foundation for the development of their own digital collections. The research reported here tracks the processes and procedures undertaken by a Research Team on a Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga research funded project that is being conducted to research and develop ethical processes for the digitisation of the manuscripts, works and collected taonga of one of Māoridom’s prominent scholars, the late Dr. Pei te Hurinui Jones. The thesis begins with an outline of the scope of the research and the approaches and methods used (Chapter 1). This is followed by selected literature reviews on museums, libraries and archives and the influence of writing in the Aotearoa /New Zealand context (see Chapter 2), digitisation, digital libraries and Mātauranga Māori (see Chapter 3), and ethics, ethics in practice and Kaupapa Māori theory (see Chapter 4). Chapter 5 describes the Pei te Hurinui Jones’ collections, the processes that were undertaken during the initial negotiation stages, the development of tikanga in the archiving, cataloguing, physical layout and conservation of the collection and the drafting and development of the Deed of Gift under the principle of takoha. Chapter 6 discusses the research ethics approval process, the methodology applied, and the development and analysis of the thematic categories that emerged from the focus group discussion. A conceptual model of the digitisation process is then presented. Chapter 7 provides an overview of the research and a summary of the findings, together with an indication of its limitations, research contribution, and suggestions for future research.