Metadata for diversity. Identification and implications of potential access points for diverse library resources
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-01-2019-0003 |
| Date | 06 September 2019 |
| Published date | 06 September 2019 |
| Pages | 173-196 |
| Author | Rachel Ivy Clarke,Sayward Schoonmaker |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Metadata for diversity
Identification and implications of potential
access points for diverse library resources
Rachel Ivy Clarke and Sayward Schoonmaker
School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate what metadata elements for access points currently
exist to represent diverse library reading materials, either in libraries or from external sources, as well as
what metadata elements for access points are currently not present but are necessary to represent diverse
library reading materials.
Design/methodology/approach –A field scan of thirteen contemporary metadata schemas identified
elements that might serve as potential access points regarding the diversity status of resource creators as well
as topical or thematic content. Elements were semantically mapped using a metadata crosswalk to
understand the intellectual and conceptual space of the elements. Element definitions and application of
controlled vocabularies were also examined where possible to offer an additional context.
Findings –Metadata elements describing gender, occupation, geographic region, audience and age currently
exist in many schemas and could potentially be used to offer access to diverse library materials. However,
metadata elements necessary to represent racial, ethnic, national and cultural identity are currently not
present in specific forms necessary for enabling resource access and collection assessment. The lack of
distinct elements contributes to the implicit erasure of marginalized identities.
Originality/value –The search for metadata describing diversity is a first step toward enabling more
systematic access to diverse library materials. The need for systematic description of diversity to make
visible and promote diverse materials is highlighted in this paper. Though the subject of this paper is library
organization systems and, for clarity, uses terms specific to the library profession, the issues present are
relevant to all information professionals and knowledge organization systems.
Keywords Diversity, Metadata, Knowledge management, Access points, Library resources,
Resource description
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Diversity is a core value of American librarianship, with a specific call for librarians to
provide access to library resources for diverse communities and from diverse populations
(American Library Association, 2004). People from traditionally marginalized communities
in the USA, including women and people of non-traditional genders, people of color,
indigenous peoples, people identifying as LGBTQIA+, and people with disabilities need
access to books and other library resources about or created by people like themselves to see
their identities, stories and experiences reflected in contemporary media, and feel
empowered to create new works. Traditionally mainstream communities also benefit from
exposure to media about and by diverse people to learn alternative perspectives and
empathy. As bastions of reading and literacy, American libraries are uniquely positioned to
support these benefits by providing access to and promoting diverse books and other
bibliographic resources.
In recent years, librarians and library workers have drawn on various techniques to
achieve this goal. Although the number of published bibliographic materials in the USA by
and about diverse peoples is disproportionally small, strategies to provide access to and
promotion of these resources are emerging. Most attempts take the form of booklists or
bibliographies, or promotional events and programming. Library workers also draw on Journal of Documentation
Vol. 76 No. 1, 2020
pp. 173-196
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-01-2019-0003
Received 10 January 2019
Revised 19 June 2019
Accepted 26 June 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
The authors wish to acknowledge and express gratitude for funding support from the 2018 OCLC/
ALISE Library & Information Science Research Grant Program (LISRGP).
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Metadata for
diversity
traditional library services such as book-talking, collection development, readers’advisory
and displays of physical materials in the library. Although laudable in helping to connect
readers to diverse materials, these approaches face limitations. The majority of these
examples rely on an individual person or organization to curate a list or collection of
resources, or offer recommendations tailored to an individual reader. These approaches are
often ad hoc, unsystematic and not scalable, and can create a kind of “filter bubble”where
people who might benefit from reading diverse resources do not realize those resources
exist. Yet, libraries rely on these curatorial, self-selecting strategies because no universal or
systematic tool that surfaces diverse resources currently exists.
How can libraries move beyond the artisanal, curation-based approaches to promoting
diverse media to encourage a wider readership of both diverse and mainstream audiences?
The development of more systematic, scalable tools relies on descriptive metadata not
currently required by traditional library cataloging standards and objectives. This paper
aims to investigate existing metadata describing diversity as means for wider, more
systematic approaches to promoting diverse reading materials (including both fiction and
non-fiction) in libraries, furthering encouragement of and advocacy for diverse reading and
media consumption, especially by those people who might not otherwise be self-inclined to
pursue such resources. To ultimately support these objectives, this research seeks to answer
to the following research questions:
RQ1. What metadata elements for access points currently exist to represent diverse
library reading materials, either in libraries or from external sources?
RQ2. What metadata elements for access points are currently not present, but are
necessary to represent diverse library reading materials?
Literature review
Benefits of access to diverse materials
Librarians and other educators have long advocated for diverse literature and reading.
Bishop (1990) established the ubiquitous metaphor of “windows, mirrors, and sliding glass
doors”to describe reading experiences: windows that offer views and insights into new
worlds, doors that let readers become part of those worlds and mirrors that reflect our own
lives as part of the larger human experience. Bishop therefore describes reading as affording
self-affirmation, wherein readers validate their own experiences and existence through
books. Conversely, she notes, books can also invalidate some readers’existences “when they
cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are
distorted, negative, or laughable.”Aronson et al. (2018) look more deeply into Bishop’s
mirrors by examining the messages conveyed in picture books to underrepresented racial
and cultural groups, asking not only who is represented but how. The themes and messages
identified “illuminate the need not just for more titles portraying underrepresented groups
but also for a variety of types of portrayals, each with different messages and impact.”
Adichie (2009) warns us about “the danger of the single story,”or the creation of stereotypes
and incomplete understanding of others that stems from a lack of exposure to and intake of
multiple materials from other groups. Not only can offering access to reading materials
representing a broader range of diversity serve as an indicator of validity and value of
traditionally marginalized groups, it also prevents such groups from inadvertently being
stereotyped or even rendered invisible to the general reader.
In addition to self-affirmation and self-validation for a broader audience, diverse reading
materials can also validate the existence of others through empathy. Lawson (2013) and
Sherr and Beise (2015) demonstrate how literature can contribute to and improve empathy
in high school and undergraduate education, respectively. Bollenbach (2014) encourages
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