Working toward equity and inclusion in library services is not just the responsibility of public-facing staff. As catalogers and other metadata professionals, viewing our controlled vocabularies and classification systems with a critical perspective can make us more aware of the inherent biases and oppressive language present in those systems. This presentation will discuss the political and social aspects of systems including Dewey Decimal Classification, Library of Congress Classification, and Library of Congress Subject Headings. It will give examples of problematic structures and language, and offer some practical steps libraries have undertaken to improve inclusion and social consciousness in the ways we describe our resources.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will engage critically with the structural and cultural biases in controlled vocabularies and classification systems
Participants will examine specific examples of exclusionary language and problematic arrangement of resources used in libraries today
Participants will learn about measures libraries have taken to put critical cataloging into practice
Presenter:
Andrew Clark is the Discovery and Metadata Librarian for Simmons University Library. His professional interests include critical cataloging, user experience with discovery systems, and zine cataloging.