October Call: Decolonizing Botanical Catalogs

Our next virtual DLF Museums Cohort call takes place on

Wednesday, October 28, 2020, at 2 pm ET/11 am PT.

This month, we're excited to welcome Rashad Bell and Regina Vitiello from the New York Botanical Garden's LuEsther T. Mertz Library and William & Lynda Steere Herbarium. Rashad and Regina will discuss the library and herbarium's collaborative work to decolonize their catalogs. Botanical resources, in particular, have a colonial past. Catalogs at the NYBG have biased subject headings, authority names, and localities built into them. Rashad and Regina will present the points of both the library and herbarium's public databases that perpetuate colonial attitudes, and how they are working to add context and transparency.

Meet our Presenters

Rashad Bell is a person who also identifies as a librarian. Most people don’t know what that means and most days he is unsure himself. Having worked in academic, public, and special libraries he is sure of one thing: librarians are thought to be helpful and he likes being helpful. Rashad presently works at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library at the New York Botanical Garden where he has had some success in opening access, building community, and curating exhibits. He also has a fine collection of cardigans. Rashad holds BAs in English and Film from Cleveland State University and an MLIS from Kent State University.

Regina Vitiello works in the New York Botanical Garden's William & Lynda Steere Herbarium as the lead digitizer of the fern collection. She is a recent MLIS graduate from Queens College. She also has a BS in Plant Biology from the University of Vermont. When it is open, she volunteers at the NYPL Schwarzman Building and helps with mapping projects. She is passionate about the impact cataloging and metadata have on future research.