NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF COMMUNICATION INFORMATION SCIENCE

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY

NAME: EVELINE SIZALOBUHLE NDLOVU

STUDENT NUMBER: N02161012A

COURSE: HISTORY AND INDEGENIOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS

COURSE CODE: IIM 1206

LECTURER: DR. O. WUTETE

QUESTION: Using oral history as a tool for capturing knowledge for posterity, discuss

the unique information which can be captured by an

information practioner in areas of agriculture, education, natural resources

management, food preservation and human morality.[25 marks]

DDUE DATE: 22 April 2022

Oral history is defined as the recording, storage, preservation and interpretation of historical
information, based on the personal experiences and opinions of the speaker. It may take the
form of eye witness evidence/accounts about the past but can include folklore, myths, songs
and stories passed down over the years by word of mouth. While it is an invaluable way of
preserving the knowledge and understanding of older peoples experiences, it can also involve
interviewing younger generations for their own opinions and views with regards to information
under discussion, ( East Midlands Oral History Archive, n.d).Using oral history as a tool for
capturing knowledge for posterity, unique information can be captured by an information
practitioner in areas of agriculture, education, natural resources management, food
preservation and human morality.

In areas of agriculture unique information can be gathered by an information practitioner for

posterity use through interviews from the people whose stories have ben untold or forgotten.
Sometimes these interviews can serve as the only source of information available about a
certain place, event or person. Information that can be gathered can be types of trees and
plants that can be grown at a certain area and also how to grow them well together. In most
cases it can be the way that farmers back then used to keep a certain type of animal like dairy
cows, there might have been secret ways that they did in order for them to grow fast and be
ready to produce milk so they can resale and make profits and also to know ethnic veterinary
medicine that protects the animals from certain viruses or diseases .This information is
collected to help the generations to come in understanding their tradition since the use of ICTs
has taken over and people don’t have enough knowledge about their old ways.

Over the years policy makers, development planners and the public at large have become
increasingly aware of the important role oral history can play in the promotion of sustainable
development. Oral history has the potential to save lives through unique information that is
captured and recorded down for educational use. It can be an alternative collective wisdom
relevant to a variety of matters at a time when existing norms, values and laws are increasingly
called into question. Dlamini, (2005) for educational purposes oral history plays a huge role and
information practitioners can record unique things for posterity use eg traditional instruction
methods, apprenticeship, learning through observation. Practices and technologies also can be
information that is recorded for future use like seed treatment and storage methods, tools for
instance equipment for planting and harvesting, cooking pots and implements. Information
practitioners do interviews first and ask their interviewees information based on their relevance
of their experience to the subject at hand and later on they then identify, assess and ensure the
accuracy of information before recording them for educational purposes in the future.
Oral history as a tool for capturing knowledge for posterity use, it is recollections from the past,
orally transmitted and reencountered, arising naturally, within and from the dynamics of a
culture. It is shared widely through word of mouth hence the information practitioners can
capture unique information through natural resource management for instance local
organization such as kinship groups, councils of elders, or groups that share and exchange
labor. The information captured is entrusted to these people for safekeeping, transmission,
recitation and narration for posterity and this becomes unique. This domain includes numerous
areas such as traditional ecological wisdom, indigenous knowledge about local fauna and flora,
traditional healing systems and social organisations.

Information practitioners capture unique information using oral history as a tool for capturing
knowledge for posterity use in food preservation and this information can be fermentation.
How food was kept in order not to decay is information that can be recorded for future use or
how they cooked a certain meal in a different way that everyone knew. Oral history is very
important in many respects hence the need for the information practitioners to capture all the
information they could gather for posterity use. It plays a prominent role in cultural identity and
development. It is not only valuable to those who depend on it daily but even to modern
industry and agriculture as well.

Information captured in human morality by information practitioners for posterity use are the
ways that they used to help each other in cases of health. Healers tests new plants before they
could heal someone and this information is unique in the sense that it will help those who
might need it in the future. Human morality worked in so many ways even teaching the young
ones arts and craft for example handcrafts like mat making, tools, clothing and jewellery
costumes and props for festivals and performing arts. Oral history helps us understand how
individuals and communities experienced the forces of history and it preserves for future
generations a sound portrait of who we are in the present and what we remember about the
past.

Oral history plays a vital role in providing information about minority groups and helping
rewrite history from those at the lower levels of society and they are as old as human beings
hence the importance of gathering all the unique information that the information practitioners
can gather for posterity use.
REFERENCES