Truth Talking in The Library: A Thematic Investigation of Statements on Bias in Libraries and Archives

Jordan Pedersen, Metadata Librarian, University of Toronto
Cora Coady, Indigenous Outreach and Research Intern, University of Toronto
Tina Liu, Indigenous Metadata and Engagement Intern, University of Toronto

As GLAM institutions continue to embrace inclusion, diversity, and equity initiatives, there is increasing awareness of the role documentary heritage institutions play in upholding systemic inequities and spreading harmful stereotypes. To address this, libraries have begun to acknowledge the importance of informing patrons of harmful content in the library catalogue and of the efforts underway to manage the representation of such material. One of the methods used by libraries and archives is to include statements on bias, harmful language, and/or critical cataloguing in their online catalogues. The University of Toronto Libraries has begun to address harmful representation in the collection, particularly as it relates to materials about Indigenous Peoples. To do this, we are currently researching statements on harmful language, and library staff perceptions of offensive subject headings. In the first half of this session, Tina and Cora will present the results of their thematic coding of the statements on harmful language compiled by CatalogingLab. We will discuss our investigations into the reception of statements on bias within the landscape of the University of Toronto Libraries and the thematic coding of publicly available statements on bias. In addition to looking at EDI trends in documentary heritage institutions, we will also make note of strengths and weaknesses that we have observed and present solutions to how weaknesses can be addressed in the future. In the second half of this session, Jordan will present the findings of that survey that gauged the interest in masking offensive subject terms in the library catalogue. Inspired by various libraries which are already masking offensive subject headings, we were investigating how the University of Toronto Libraries can mitigate harm done to Indigenous Peoples by removing offensive subject headings. To understand the impact of this proposed project, we ran a survey for library staff, asking about their use of subject headings and whether there would be support for the project. Interesting themes such as the difference in emotional responses given by user-facing versus technical-services staff will be discussed. As our work is still ongoing, we will discuss how the results will affect our next steps within the library, as well as possible directions for research that builds off these initial projects. Additionally, as the University of Toronto Libraries have not yet released a statement on bias, we will also discuss how our findings from the thematic coding of statements on bias will shape our writing process. This presentation will inform others interested in crafting their statements on bias, open a dialogue for further discussion, and we hope to model an approach to increasing EDI in library catalogues that can be implemented at other institutions.

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