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Presented by the Role of the Professional Librarian in Technical Services Interest Group
Presentations
A Holistic Approach to the Planning and Implementation of Metadata Inclusiveness
Charlene Chou, Head of Knowledge Access, New York University Libraries
For effectively coordinating and implementing metadata inclusiveness, the Authorities Working Group, reporting to the Metadata Policy & Implementation Committee, was reconfigured to create and maintain holistic policies around authority control and identity management, ensuring that we center the values of inclusion, diversity, belonging, and equity in our work with metadata. Since summer 2020, the Working Group has collaborated with diverse stakeholders such as collection development or research services, for better communications and holding special events, e.g. “Change the Subject, etc.”
The Working Group membership consists of cataloging/metadata librarians as well as processing archivists. A use case will be presented to illustrate how to use a local approach for using correct terms, adopted by the user communities, for an archival collection and documenting our local descriptive decisions. On the other hand, the cataloging librarians will propose new and revised LC subject headings for related terms. The Working Group will use both agile and hybrid approaches to implement various projects in phases. For instance, we will develop local approaches for using specialized controlled vocabularies and thesauri and plan the upcoming LC authority training programs with strategic priorities.
Creating the SSDN Inclusive Metadata & Conscious Editing Resources List
Elliot Williams, Digital Initiatives Metadata Librarian, University of Miami Libraries
As did many library groups in 2020, the Sunshine State Digital Network (SSDN) Metadata Working Group felt compelled to do better at incorporating anti-racism and EDI into our work. As a statewide network of cultural heritage organizations who manage and share digital collections, SSDN strives to make diversity and inclusion a core part of its activities. To further that work, the Metadata Working Group created a public resources list of research, best practices, and examples of inclusive metadata & conscious editing. In this presentation, I will introduce the SSDN Inclusive Metadata & Conscious Editing Resources List, describe the creation of the list, and discuss how this list relates to other EDI efforts in SSDN and in the metadata and cataloging field. I will also give some reflections on the role and limitations of resource lists such as this as part of incorporating EDI principles into metadata work.
Forming a Working Group to Address EDI Issues in the Library
Annamarie C. Klose, Metadata Initiatives Librarian, The Ohio State University Libraries
In the Ohio State University Libraries, an informal working group was formed within Acquisitions & Discovery to learn about EDI issues related to controlled vocabularies and description practices. This work was seen as a corollary to EDI work elsewhere in the library. This group included archivists, catalogers, and non-MARC metadata creators who reviewed a variety of literature on this topic. This session discusses how the group was conducted and learning outcomes.
The Creation, Enrichment and Exchange of Public-Domain Bibliographic Records Between Public Libraries
Tris Shores, Founder of the Open Bibliographic Exchange project
Each year, publicly-funded libraries create large quantities of publicly-funded bibliographic records that are funneled into cooperative or consortium databases without first being dedicated to the public-domain and made accessible to all public libraries. Creating public-domain bibliographic records, marking them as such, and making them accessible to all public libraries supports equity, inclusion, and innovation. The ALA itself states “that ALA encourage programs and developments that facilitate access to bibliographic records by all members of the library community.”
Classification and Cataloging of LGBTQAI+ Material in the Elementary School Library
Linda Garrison, Doctoral Candidate, Texts and Technology, University of Central Florida
The LGBTQAI+ community includes a rich matrix of gender and sexuality experiences, further diversified by race, religion, age, culture, ethnicity, and social class. Just as feminist researchers understand that there is not a single “women’s experience;” we also accept that there is not a monolithic LGBTQAI+ experience. Library activists who adopted this multi-faceted understanding of their patrons were instrumental in changing the classification and cataloging practices in the 1960s. I believe that contemporary catalogers can continue to apply gender and cultural theories to their work, creating and improving finding systems which empower intersectional identities.
LGBTQAI+ persons, particularly those who are transgender, are identifying as such as young as elementary school age. Further, school librarians are uniquely placed within the educational system, not only because we select the material that populates the library catalog, but also because we have the opportunity to provide formal instruction in information literacy. We can explain how and why we make cataloging and classification decisions; we can invite questions; and we can observe our students as they search, offering help when needed. Unfortunately, because of censorship threats, budget concerns, or personal feelings, school librarians – if they include LGBTQAI+ material at all – will sometimes deliberately underrepresent these resources. It is also possible that the materials exist in the collection but are not discoverable due to either inadequate cataloging and classification tools and practices or the librarians misunderstanding of these tools. My research addresses how elementary school librarians in west central Florida manage their LGBTQAI+ collections.
Learn more about the Role of the Professional Librarian in Technical Services Interest Group.
Contacts: Christine Davidian (davidian@rowan.edu); Sai Deng (sai.deng@ucf.edu)