Contested Subjects: The Politics of Library Classification

Description

The recent controversy over the subject heading “illegal alien” reminds us that, despite appearances, the library catalog is never truly a neutral space. The way that books and other items are classified have both short-term and lasting effects, not just on whether researchers can access what they need but also how they understand what they find, collective memory and even government policy. Panelists will discuss efforts to counteract bias in library classification as well as strategies for decolonizing and re-imagining the library catalog, including community cataloging, participatory metadata creation and incorporating natural language or indigenous knowledge in catalog records.