Bias and Neutrality in Metadata Creation

This presentation by Erin Leach was part of a NISO 2018 webinar entitled Can There Be Neutrality in Cataloging. Leach offered this as the abstract of her talk, "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."

 

Click on the arrow above to watch the embedded video or click through here to view the recorded presentation on Youtube.