Reimagine Descriptive Workflows: an Anti-Racist Approach

Description, subject analysis, classification, authority control, and cataloging practices are part of a powerful naming and labeling process in bibliographic cataloging. Metadata is laden with outdated, harmful, and even racist terminology. Though many areas of librarianship and archival work have evolved, core ontologies and taxonomies at the heart of descriptive and classification practices remain biased and rooted in white supremacy. This presentation will cover how OCLC has sought to learn and advance knowledge for member libraries though research and programming. Additionally, we will share information about an initiative funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and OCLC that will produce a consultative community agenda. This agenda will inform research, learning, and other actionable steps that libraries, archives, and allied organizations can take to reimagine descriptive practices in the records they steward, and will establish a foundation for future community engagement and reciprocal consultation.

Participants will learn about work that has been done at OCLC and elsewhere to understand the impact of harmful descriptive practices and will hear about outcomes from a June 2021 workshop. Attendees will be invited to reflect on how they can participate in changing power structures that will result in more just descriptions.

PKSB Subject Headings

This webinar supports the following PKSB headings:

Biography

Merrilee Proffitt is the Senior Manager for the OCLC Research Library Partnership. She works in OCLC Research and provides project management skills and expert support to institutions within the OCLC RLP. Her current projects and interests include: supporting the work of unique and distinctive collections, how to developing better relationships between Wikimedia projects and cultural heritage institutions, and developing more inclusive descriptive practices.

About our sponsor:

OCLC is a nonprofit global library cooperative providing shared technology services, original research and community programs so that libraries can better fuel learning, research and innovation. Through OCLC, member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the most comprehensive global network of data about library collections and services.


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