The following post is one in a regular series on issues of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility, compiled by Jay Weitz.
Studies of LGBTQ information training and gathering
Two articles in the April 2023 issue of Library and Information Science Research (Volume 45, Issue 2) are of particular interest. In “The gender and LGBTQ perspectives in library and information science: A case study at the University of Barcelona,” Anna Villarroya Planas and Juan-José Boté-Vericad, both of the Centre for Research on Information, Communication, and Culture (CRICC) at the University of Barcelona (OCLC Symbol: CRH), write that ignoring those perspectives in education perpetuates stereotypes and biases. When these perspectives are accounted for, LIS students ask for more training to deal with their professional and personal futures and LIS teachers are sometimes prompted to reconsider instructional practices. Aira Huttunen of the Department of Information Studies of Finland’s University of Oulu (OCLC Symbol: OUX) writes “‘I had to teach my own doctor what this was about’: Information sharing barriers and information evaluation of Finnish transgender people.” In interviews with 19 transgender individuals, Huttunen discerned methods by which library and information scholars might make health information more accessible. Both articles are available open access.
OCLC Cataloging Community Meeting, 2023 June 9
On June 9, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, OCLC will present the second of its 2023 virtual Cataloging Community Meetings, open freely to all. Members of the Cataloging Community and OCLC staff will offer brief presentations on current topics of interest, with a special focus on initiatives to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in library metadata. Among the topics and speakers will be:
- The U.S. Board on Geographic Names – An Overview of the Processes for Approving Geographic Names for Federal Use – Betsy Kanalley, USDA Forest Service (OCLC Symbol: AGD)
- Reparative Geographic Name Changes: Case Studies in Cataloging – Kate James, OCLC
- Queering the Catalog: SACO Gender and Sexuality Funnel
- Margaret Breidenbaugh, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College (OCLC Symbol: OCT)
- Maya Espersen, Aurora Public Library, Colorado (OCLC Symbol: COB)
- Adam Schiff, University of Washington (OCLC Symbol: WAU)
- Rapid Harm Reduction Through Locally-Defined Subjects in WorldCat Discovery, Grace McGann, OCLC
There will be ample opportunity for interaction with Cataloging Community speakers and OCLC staff. If you can’t attend live, register now to get the full recording after the event.
“Prepared for Pride Month”
A central target of the current wave of censorship has been materials having LGBTQ+ themes and characters, so as June arrives, “Prepared for Pride Month: A Conversation” could hardly be more timely. Free to members of ALA and the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF), the webinar will take place on June 6, 2023, 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Best practices and practical strategies will be discussed by panelists Pat Tully, Director of Alaska’s Ketchikan Public Library (OCLC Symbol: Q2Z); Director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and Executive Director of FTRF, Deborah Caldwell-Stone; and Assistant Director of Communications and Outreach for OIF, Betsy Gomez.
How parents can fight book bans
On “Alabama’s largest news site,” AL.com, investigative reporter Anna Claire Vollers writes about the organized assaults on the freedom to read and recommends means of resistance in “Here’s how parents can fight book bans in their kids’ school libraries.” Vollers suggests folks “speak up and show up” with their children, join local and national groups, and get the word out. Making the point that those advocating book bans are loud but in the minority, Vollers notes that when the majority stands up against restrictions, they often prevail.
Supporting libraries
Former public school librarian Deirdre Sugiuchi and ALA president Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada talk about standing up to book bans, supporting library workers and users, and the future of libraries in “American Libraries Are Taking a Stand Against Book Bans.” Pelayo-Lozada cites several ALA initiatives and constituent units that have tried to counter the attacks on libraries, to ensure that libraries are more welcoming, and to expand the diversity of the profession. The interview appears in Electric Lit.
Technology supporting freedom
In the May 2023 issue of Computers in Libraries (Volume 43, Issue 4), Amy Mikel, director of customer experience at Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) (OCLC Symbol: BKL) in New York, and Michael Blackwell, director of St. Mary’s County Library (OCLC Symbol: MDSMC) in Maryland, write about efforts by BPL to circumvent censorship with digital responses: “Books Unbanned: Expanding Access to Content via Library Ebooks” (Pages 22-27). In the same issue, Carolyn Foote recounts how technology has been aiding in the fight against censorship in “Resources for Combating Attempts at Censorship” (Pages 32-34).
Assessing diversity strategies
Technical Services Librarian Sarah R. Jones, Digital Special Collections Librarian Emily Lapworth, and Special Collections Technical Services Librarian Tammi Kim, all at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (OCLC Symbol: UNL) are in the process of “adopting more inclusive practices and embedding them programmatically at their institution.” In “Assessing Diversity in Special Collections and Archives” (College and Research Libraries, Volume 84, Number 3, May 2023, Pages 335-356), they analyze and assess the policies and strategies used at UNLV in terms of how successful they have been.
“The Importance of Black Mentorship”
“Surviving in academia involves finding your supporters, allies, accomplices, agitators, and disruptors. It is identifying those with whom you risk being your true, authentic self to share your worries, anxieties, fears, and stresses with someone there to help in the necessary ways. They respect you.” So writes Twanna Hodge, a Ph.D. student in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park (OCLC Symbol: MDX), in “The Importance of Black Mentorship,” available on WOC+Lib, “a digital platform for women of color (WOC) within librarianship.”
Current intellectual freedom issues
On June 8, 2023, 3-6 p.m. Eastern Time, the second free virtual Library 2.023 mini-conference, “Banned Books and Censorship: Current Intellectual Freedom Issues in the Library,” will look at current trends and how to defend foundational library principles in this era of polarization. Organized by the Learning Revolution Project, the conference is chaired by Martin Garner, editor of the Intellectual Freedom Manual, 10th Edition, published by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Library history research forum
The ALA Library History Round Table presents its annual Research Forum on June 13, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, “Unpacking Access.” Speakers for the free webinar will include Amanda Rizki of the University of Virginia Library (OCLC Symbol: VA@) on “Carceral Fees: A History of Racism at the Circulation Desk” and Ethan Lindsay of Wichita State University Library (OCLC Symbol: KSW) on “Extending Library Access to Readers Across the Plains: The Early Traveling Libraries Program in Kansas.”
EDI in library workplaces
On June 13 and 14, 2023, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern each day, take part in the free Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures e-Forum “Incorporating Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Your Workplace: A Conversation.” Core e-Forums are two-day, moderated, electronic discussions that work similarly to email discussion lists. Moderating will be Ray Pun of the Alder Graduate School of Education (OCLC Symbol: CAAGS); Loida Garcia-Febo, International Library Consultant and Past President of the American Library Association; and Robin L. Kear of the University of Pittsburgh (OCLC Symbol: PIT). Questions will center on promoting EDI values in libraries, what has and has not worked in practice, dealing with burnout, and fostering collaboration.
Challenging the challengers in Florida and Arkansas
On May 16, 2023, PEN America, Penguin Random House, a group of authors, and a group of parents filed a federal lawsuit against Florida’s Escambia County School District (OCLC Symbol: FA6) and School Board for disregarding existing review policies for challenged books and siding with “openly discriminatory bases for challenge” against the recommendations of review committees, resulting in censorship that has “disproportionately targeted books by or about people of color and/or LGBTQ people, and … prescribed an orthodoxy of opinion that violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.” Publishers Weekly, in “PEN America, Penguin Random House Sue Florida School District Over ‘Unconstitutional’ Book Bans,” reports on the case and others, prompted by the current “disturbing, politically-motivated surge in book bans and legislation now in its third year.” In a later related story also by PW’s Andrew Albanese, “Librarians, Publishers, Bookstores Join Lawsuit Over Arkansas Library ‘Obscenity’ Law,” the prospect of a federal lawsuit against Arkansas Act 372 of 2023 (formerly SB81) is outlined. Plaintiffs in the impending suit include the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF), the Central Arkansas Library System (OCLC Symbol: AKD), Arkansas’s Fayetteville Public Library (OCLC Symbol: FAYTV), and others.
Prior to his retirement in 2023, Jay was a Senior Consulting Database Specialist in the Membership and Research Division of OCLC, Jay has long been involved in WorldCat bibliographic quality control and record matching, OCLC-MARC validation, the Member Merge Project, the Virtual AskQC Office Hours, and the maintenance of OCLC’s Bibliographic Formats and Standards. He created the seven-session “Cataloging Defensively” series of presentations. For many years, he coordinated OCLC’s Enhance Program. He serves as OCLC liaison to numerous organizations, including the Music OCLC Users Group (MOUG), Online Audiovisual Catalogers (OLAC), the Cataloging and Metadata Committee (CMC) of the Music Library Association (MLA), the MARC Advisory Committee (MAC), and the Standing Committee on Standards of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC). He also sits on the Bibliography Standing Committee of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), represents the IFLA Cataloguing Standing Committee on the Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access (CC:DA) of the American Library Association (ALA), and is Secretary of IFLA’s Permanent UNIMARC Committee.
Before coming to OCLC in 1982, Jay was a cataloger at Capital University in Bexley, Ohio. He is the author of Cataloger’s Judgment (2004), both editions of Music Coding and Tagging (1990 and 2001), and the cataloging Q&A columns of the MOUG Newsletter and the OLAC Newsletter. Since 1992, catalogers throughout North America and Japan have been subjected to dozens of his workshops. He was the recipient of the MOUG Distinguished Service Award in 2004, OLAC’s Nancy B. Olson Award in 2005, and the Music Library Association’s lifetime achievement award and highest honor, the MLA Citation in 2019.