From Gatekeepers to Facilitators
Transforming Metadata for Equitable Knowledge Access
Keywords:
teams in the workplace, libraries--special collections--social justice, subject headings, reparative descriptions, alternative vocabulariesAbstract
Metadata is necessary for intellectual control of materials, providing context, and facilitating findability. In the creation of metadata, information professionals may inadvertently act as gatekeepers, perpetuating the marginalization of people and identities through the use of complicated and outdated descriptive practices. The People’s Archive, the local history department of the DC Public Library set out to revise our metadata practices for digital collections to prioritize inclusivity and findability in our collections. Addressing the role our profession has played in perpetuating harmful social structures is hard and uncomfortable, but it is also overdue and necessary if we truly want to provide the best access to our users. In this article, the authors review the methodology and outcomes of a yearlong effort to update our metadata practices.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Laura Farley, Demetrius Currington, Robert LaRose, Maya Thompson
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