Working Groups & Networks

Peer Working Groups

Our working groups are communities of practice that meet virtually every 2-3 months. Typical meetings have 20-40 attendees, though meetings are also recorded for sharing within each group.

Indigenous Communities Working Group

Working Group Chair: Currently organized by Corrie Roe and Emily Santhanam, Local Contexts

About: The Indigenous Communities Working Group (ICWG) brings together Indigenous community members and Indigenous community staff internationally to support communities who are either using or interested in using the Labels. Meetings include members sharing their experiences customizing and using the Traditional Knowledge and Biocultural Labels, group discussions around Local Contexts and the Hub, Local Contexts updates and feedback, and more. There are currently over 120 group members.

Cultural Institution Working Group

Working Group Chair: Dr. Gwen Saul, New York State Museum; supported by Corrie Roe and Emily Santhanam, Local Contexts

About: The Cultural Institution Working Group (CIWG) brings together group members who work at or with cultural organizations around the world, including museums, libraries, archives, and universities, and who are interested in or using the Local Contexts system of Notices and Labels. Meetings include members sharing their experiences using the Local Contexts Notices, group discussions around Local Contexts and the Hub, Local Contexts updates and feedback, and more. There are currently over 200 group members from over 120 organizations.

Technical Implementation Working Group

Working Group Chairs: Dr. Ann Mc Cartney, University of California Santa Cruz, and Ashley Rojas, Local Contexts

About: The Technical Implementation Working Group (TIWG) connects institution and data repository staff, researchers, and others for technical discussions around implementing the Local Contexts Labels and Notices within metadata and databases. Meetings can be informal conversations, working meetings, or feature invited speakers. There are currently over 140 group members.

Library Working Group

Working Group Chairs: Currently organized by Corrie Roe and Emily Santhanam, Local Contexts

About: The Library Working Group (LWG) was established to support library-specific discussions and knowledge exchange around Indigenous data sovereignty, cultural authority, and use of the Local Contexts Notices and Labels. There are currently over 75 group members who are library staff and scholars.

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Regional Networks

Our regional networks aim to connect community organizations and representatives, institutions and organizations, and others located in or with ties to a particular geographic area to see how we can together support momentum and interest for Local Contexts in the region. 

These networks are for participants with established connections in these areas, including Indigenous Peoples with both ancestral and contemporary ties to these regions. While we hope these groups can create introductions and connections, they are not a substitute for relationship building, such as following appropriate protocols to establish contact with a community.

Each group varies in size, and meets every 1-3 months. Meetings are generally recorded for the group’s reference. 

We recognize that current geopolitical boundaries are arbitrary and have been created by settler-colonial institutions. Additionally, Local Contexts is committed to Indigenous sovereignty and ethical data governance; we believe that naming and addressing the violence of settler-colonialism and its ongoing effects is central to the work that we do. While many of these geopolitical boundaries continue to uphold settler colonialism, we also see the benefit of establishing networks within them to connect around the particular needs and issues of supporting Indigenous data sovereignty.

The networks below were started by volunteers to chair the group and by the Local Contexts team to meet expressed interest. We would be excited to see networks for other regions (including Africa, Alaska, Australia, Oklahoma, the Pacific Northwest (US), and Midwest (US)), but have limited team capacity. If you are interested in seeing a network in another region, you can indicate this in the network survey. If you have capacity and interest in volunteering to chair a network, please email us and we would be happy to share more about what this would involve and what support we can offer.

Oceania

Aotearoa New Zealand

Network Chair: Currently organized by Corrie Roe and Emily Santhanam, Local Contexts

Hawai’i, United States

Network Chair: Currently organized by Corrie Roe and Emily Santhanam, Local Contexts

Europe

Europe & United Kingdom

Network Chairs: William Wood, King’s College London, and Monica Galassi, University of Technology Sydney

North America

Canada

Network Chair: Tanya Richard, Canadian Museum of History

Northeast, United States

Network Chair: Heather Moran, Maine State Archives, and Annie Tucker, Mount Holyoke College

Southwest, United States

New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and other relevant cultural regions

Network Chair: Currently organized by Corrie Roe and Emily Santhanam, Local Contexts

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