Traditional knowledge and the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library: Digital quandaries and other concerns

This article explores issues related to the digitization of traditional knowledge. Using the example of the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) in India, it (1) explores the interfaces between the TKDL and the digital, (2) problematizes the relationship between the TKDL, power and digital knowledge, (3) raises issues around traditional knowledge (TK) and dominant traditions of intellectual property (IP) and (4) explores the status of reinvented traditions in relation to TK. While the article includes an immanent critique of the politics of the digital in relation to the TKDL, it supports the view that the digital can play a significant role in the preservation, elucidation and strengthening of traditional/ indigenous cultures