Marginalized Knowledge: An Agenda for Indigenous Knowledge Development and Integration with Other Forms of Knowledge

University of Zululand

The University of Zululand was established in 1960. It is a comprehensive institution of higher learning comprised mainly of students from the surrounding rural communities of KwaZulu Natal. Programs are offered within four faculties, namely Arts, Commerce, Administration and Law, Education and Theology, and Science and Agriculture. It is situated in KwaDlangezwa, about 145km north of Durban and 19km south of Empangeni near the N2 National road of KwaZulu Natal (University Calendar: 2004)

Durban University of Technology

The Durban University of Technology (DUT) arose from a merger between Technikon Natal and ML Sultan Technikon in 2002. The Durban University of Technology offers a variety of full-time and part-time programmes, which in turn lead to a number of tertiary qualifications. These range from certificate courses (one year full-time study) to National Diplomas (three years of full-time study), Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees. DUT has a number of campuses - Durban City, Berea (Steve Biko and ML Sultan, Ritson Road, Brickfield Road), Indumiso (on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg), Pietermaritzburg and Richards Bay.

Over the last few decades, the growth and relevance of information has dramatically increased a development that can be attributed to the prevalence of new information and communication technologies, as typified by the web. The rapid rate of change in the academic sector has resulted in a wide variety and range of information sources. The advent of the World Wide Web has ensured that these sources are now collated in one medium. For instance, whereas in the past the physical library represented a one-stop shop for information, today this is no longer the case, and in its wake, the web has taken over. Patitungkho and Deshpande (2001: n.p) claim that the insurmountable amount of information available on the web has affected information seeking behavior

Today, there is no doubt of the effect the Internet has had on the information seeking patterns of members of staff and students in institutions of higher education. What's more, this has become a central consideration in the provision of information services. Indeed, as the number of available web information retrieval systems and their use is proliferating, knowledge and the understanding of users' information seeking behaviour has become increasingly significant. As suggested by Bains (1997: n.p), rapid technological developments in the higher-education sector have resulted in a greater reliance on end-user searching. Rowley et al (n.d: 29) report that the impact of IT networks and electronic information services on academic information services is potentially enormous, and permeates all areas of research, teaching, publishing and communication. This change, provoked by the emergence of electronic information services (EIS), is only one of many changes taking place in higher education which affects the nature of academic jobs and roles, research and knowledge, student profiles and learning.

Siatri (1998: n.p) observes that taking into account the constant development in the provision of recent electronic systems, misunderstanding information seeking behavior is an obstacle to the process of interpreting the way in which electronic information services are being delivered. Carr (2006: n.p) insists that the emergence of information resources in electronic form and the advent and pervasive dominance of the Internet, serve further to accelerate this new and welcome emphasis on giving prominence to the needs of users. As services delivered on the web continue to considerably permeate the work and leisure spaces of students and staff in institutions of higher learning, understanding the web’s influence on behavior has become highly fundamental.