“Collections, Ethics, Perspective, and Voice: The Importance of Context”
IFLA Women, Information, & Libraries Special Interest Group (WILSIG) with support from the LGBTQ Users Special Interest Group is seeking proposals for papers to be presented at its Open Session at the 2018 IFLA World Library and Information Congress/ 84th General Conference and Assembly, 24-30 August 2018, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Around the world, libraries are beginning to address the ways in which established methods of collecting, cataloguing, preserving, sharing information about and giving access to resources perpetuates cultural bias, patriarchal thinking, racism, colonialism, among other issues and structures and therefore informs the collection itself.
There are numerous issues to address, including but not limited to: how does cultural bias play into building collections; how to build relationships with local communities; at what level to start the conversation; who has primary responsibility for addressing issues with subject access and classifications such as the Dewey Decimal System or LCSH; the choices that curators make when presenting collections online and off; the ways in which technology hides decision making and discovery; staff training, recruiting, and retention of a diverse workforce; the use of Indigenous research methods; addressing closed and inherited collections which bring up issues around restitution and repatriation.
In this open session, we are soliciting papers that will showcase research, activities, and real-world examples of the complexities around these issues and share experiences and best practices around this robust, and broad topic.
For further questions or clarifications, please reach out to WILSIG Co-Convenors:
Mathilde Koskas or Evviva Weinraub Email: mathilde.koskas@bnf.fr Email: Evviva.weinraub@northwestern.edu
For more information, please visit our full CfP here: https://2018.ifla.org/cfp-calls/women-information-libraries-sig-with-lgbtq-users-sig