What is the Local Contexts Hub?
The Local Contexts Hub is a website that facilitates the use of the Local Contexts Labels and Notices. A community can use the Hub to customize and assign their Labels to be used internally or shared with others. An institution or researcher uses the Hub to generate and apply Notices and notify communities.
The Hub works in tandem with existing information/collections management systems and tools. By using the Hub, Labels and Notices can be directly connected to Indigenous collections and data, and support the proper recognition of Indigenous rights and interests.
The Hub has been developed since 2019. Design and development of the Local Contexts Hub is by development team and Indigenous Design and Innovation Aotearoa (IDIA). Past contributors to the Hub development and design include John Deck, Steve Taylor, and Alex Merrill.
What is the Sandbox Hub?
The Sandbox Hub can be used for testing Hub workflows. The sandbox Hub is similar to the live Hub, but is a “working site” with no guarantees and some untested features. We suggest keeping a separate copy of any information you would like to save.
The sandbox and live Hub require separate registrations. On the live Hub, you will receive emails related to Projects, Labels, and Notices, which you will not receive on the sandbox Hub. Accounts on the sandbox Hub can also be created without the confirmation steps that are needed on the live Hub, and have limited functionality to protect the integrity of the Labels and Notices.
How can I get started with using the Hub?
Learn more about how to use the Local Contexts Hub in our Getting Started on the Hub guide or join an upcoming Hub demo session. Before joining the Hub, please review the account types and requirements below.
You can also use the Sandbox Hub site for testing before joining the main Hub.
Hub accounts & agreements
When you join the Hub, you will create or join account(s):
- A community account represents a sovereign Indigenous or local community, including a Nation, First Nation, Iwi, Band, Tribe, Confederation, Land Council, Native Hawaiian Organization, or Alaskan Native Village Corporation, who may be represented by an entity such as a cultural department, library, archive, museum, community center, Tribal Historic Preservation Office, Land Council or Corporation, or Indigenous Rangers.
- An institution account is for a cultural or research institution, data repository, and other organizations, typically not governed by an Indigenous or local community, that will use Notices and create Projects for the Indigenous collections or data they manage. An institution could be an archive, library, museum, historical society, gallery, data repository, university, or media production company.
- A researcher account is for an individual who carries out academic or scientific research independently or in an institution, who will use Notices and create Projects for data, publications, and other outputs.
- An integration partner account is for any organization that integrates a connection to the Local Contexts Hub into their platforms to enable other account types to access their Labels and Notices. An integration partner could be a collections management system (CMS), repository workflow platform, or information aggregator.
To support your unique positionality, any individual can create and/or join multiple account types, and multiple accounts of each type. Each account type has its own registration process before it is considered active on the Hub. Institution and researcher accounts require a subscription agreement. Community accounts require confirmation from an authorized community representative. For more details, see our Getting Started on the Hub guide and Hub Agreement Programs page.
Related Links
Hub FAQ
Hub Tutorials
Hub Service Schedule
Hub & API Updates
Hub demos
