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*NISO Webinar*

*Wednesday, April 11, 2018, 1:00pm - 2:30pm (Eastern Daylight) *

*Can There be Neutrality in Cataloging: A Conversation Starter*
<http://www.niso.org/events/2018/04/can-there-be-neutrality-cataloging-conversation-starter>

How does one create awareness of the bias that may be introduced into
automated systems? This session will look at the selection of vocabulary in
establishing taxonomies and ontologies. What is the real nature of the
issue? How might establishing, maintenance, and use of a thesaurus
contribute to a more inclusive search/discovery process? And where should
responsibility lie for developing such ostensibly neutral tools? How can we
bring more diverse voices into the development/maintenance of these
resources?

*Updated Speaker Roster*:

   - *Erin Leach*, Librarian, University of Georgia;
   - *Amber Billey*, Systems and Metadata Librarian, Bard College;
   - *Jill Hurst-Wahl, *Associate Professor of Practice, School of
   Information Studies, Syracuse University

Here’s what our speakers will be discussing:



Title: *Power, corruption, and lies: bias and neutrality in metadata
creation*

Speaker: Erin Leach, Librarian, University of Georgia



As catalogers, we are taught to strive for unbiased description of library
resources. But is unbiased description of library resources even possible?
In this talk, Erin Leach will discuss the ways that lived experience
impacts the work of metadata creators as well as the ways in which existing
taxonomies reflect the power structures in which they were created. Using
critical discourse analysis as a lens through which to view metadata
creation, Leach will also discuss the ways in which acknowledging
cataloger’s bias and the power dynamics inherent in controlled vocabulary
can lead to more critically conscious metadata creation.



Title: *Just Because We Can, Doesn't Mean We Should*

Speaker: Amber Billey, Systems and Metadata Librarian, Bard College



How much information is really necessary in order to record enough about
persons and to accomplish the FRBR-LRM and RDA user tasks? With the
adoption of RDA, library catalogers have the technical ability and are
encouraged to record much more information about people than ever
previously required in name authority records -- but should we? With
additional attributes associated with persons, there are additional
opportunities to record personal information that could unknowingly harm an
individual. Furthermore, the information in name authority records travels
beyond library use with linked data into domains and disciplines outside of
our control. In light of the recent news about data breaches and personal
information being misused for marketing and political reasons, librarians
should be more careful than ever about what metadata is recorded about
persons in name authority records.



Title: *Access Requires Subjectivity*

Speaker: Jill Hurst-Wahl, Associate Professor of Practice, School of
Information Studies, Syracuse University



While we bring our life experiences to cataloguing, our community members
also bring their life experiences to their quest to locate needed
information.  Does our impartiality serve the needs of our communities?  Would
subjective cataloguing provide better entry points?  What could go wrong?



Want to pay for your library’s registration using a credit card? Use this
form <https://www.regonline.com/registration/Checkin.aspx?EventID=2091484>.


NOTE: Library Standards Alliance Members of NISO automatically receive sign
on credentials for this event as a member benefit. There is no need to
register separately. *Check* your institutional membership here
<http://www.niso.org/about/roster>.



Got questions? Get in touch:



NISO

3600 Clipper Mill Road

Suite 302

Baltimore, MD 21211-1948

Phone: +1.301.654.2512

Email: [log in to unmask]

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