Library + Archives Commitments and Progress

Resources for Names and Places

• First Nations, Métis, and Inuit – Indigenous Ontology (FNMIIO) 

  First draft, created by CFLA-FCAB’s Indigenous Matters Committee’s – Red Team-Joint Working Group on Classification and Subject Headings and the National Indigenous Knowledge and Language Alliance (NIKLA)

• X̱wi7x̱wa Library Names for BC First Nations 

  "Introductory Note: This list of names is used in the Xwi7xwa Library catalogue to describe many of the First Nations peoples on whose traditional territories British Columbia is located. It is a developing list, and will continue to be expanded and revised to best reflect the preferences of First Nations*. Note that Library of Congress (LC) subject headings are not always equivalents to Xwi7xwa names. For example, Carrier Indians (LC) can refer to Xwi7xwa’s Dakelh, Wet’suwet’en and Nedut’en peoples."

• GVPL interim Indigenous subject headings 

  The GVPL list is a BC-centric adaptation of the Association for Manitoba Archives (AMA) headings scheme (which is itself a Manitoba-centric solution).
  "This document should be open to view and download to anyone who has the link. This is our working document, so you’ll see a tab of guidelines/instructions, a tab for the terms that were in our catalogue, and a tab for the terms that weren’t in our catalogue."

Resources relating to theories, practices, and history

• Indigenous subject headings at the Greater Victoria Public Library (contextual document) 

  Background information pertaining to the GVPL's project of replacing Library of Congress and Canadian subject headings related to Indigenous peoples with locally developed interim Indigenous subject headings using more current terminology.

• Why we say "Indigenous" instead of "Aboriginal" 

  Indigenous Innovation article from June 17, 2020, explaining why the preference by some Indigenous Communities is not to be called Aboriginal, but Indigenous, or even better calling people by the name of their nation.

• One Decolonizing Change to Subject Headings at UBC Library 

  An article written by Sarah Dupont on June 25, 2020 explaining how X̱wi7x̱wa records previously containing the term “First Nations” now use the broader heading "Aboriginal Canadians."

• Modifications to the Library of Congress Subject Headings for use by Manitoba archives 

  Bone, Christine, “Modifications to the Library of Congress Subject Headings for use by
  Manitoba archives”, 2016. IFLA World Library and Information Congress, Columbus, Ohio, August 13-19, 2016. Web. 11 March 2021.
  "Abstract: The Association for Manitoba Archives has created a database where their members can deposit archival descriptions, in order to provide a central search mechanism for users. The Library of Congress Subject Headings were also added, to provide the members with a controlled subject vocabulary to use in their descriptions. The AMA was quickly notified that the LCSH terminology relating to Indigenous peoples is antiquated and inappropriate in a Canadian and Manitoban context. Changes were made related to the following: the word “Indian”; geographic place being embedded in terms such as “Indians of North America”; changes related to Manitoba peoples specifically; and many miscellaneous changes not part of a larger pattern. New terms for concepts not extant in LCSH were also added. The final document contains 1093 changed or deleted headings and 120 new headings."

• Library of Congress Subject Headings Related to Indigenous Peoples: a Project Changing LCSH for use in a Canadian Archival Context 

  Bone, Christine, and Brett Lougheed. “Library of Congress Subject Headings Related to Indigenous Peoples: a Project Changing LCSH for use in a Canadian Archival Context”, University of Manitoba Libraries MSpace, 2017. Web. 11 March 2021.
  (This is a revised and expanded version of a paper presented at the IFLA Conference in 2016 - linked above)

• Changes to Library of Congress Subject Headings Related to Indigenous Peoples: for use in the AMA MAIN Database 

  Bone, Christine, Brett Lougheed, Camille Callison, Janet La France, and Terry Reilly, “Changes to Library of Congress Subject Headings Related to Indigenous Peoples: for use in the AMA MAIN Database”, University of Manitoba Libraries MSpace, 2015. Web. 11 March 2021.

• University of Alberta Libraries Decolonizing Description Working Group - Final Report 

• Indigenous Knowledge Organization at the X̱wi7x̱wa Library 

  Links to X̱wi7x̱wa Library subject organization and classification schedules. Short video about Brian Deer classification and how the X̱wi7x̱wa Library is organized.

• UBC Indigenous Knowledge Organization Guide 

  "Indigenous Knowledge Organization (IKO) is used here to describe the processes and systems for organizing and representing Indigenous library and archival materials in all formats—traditional and electronic. It includes considerations of Indigenous cataloguing standards and metadata, broadly defined."
  This guide contains many links and resources related to Indigenous Knowledge Organization in Canada, and in other places in the world.

• Decolonizing our descriptions, unsettling our practice 

  Laurel, Parson. "Decolonizing our descriptions, unsettling our practice", Anglican Journal, Sept 23, 2020. Web. 11 March 2021.
  An article outlining the commitments the General Synod Archives is making in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

• Subject Headings for Aboriginals: The Power of Naming 

  Kam, D. Vanessa. “Subject Headings for Aboriginals: The Power of Naming.” Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, vol. 26, no. 2, 2007, pp. 18–22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27949465. Accessed 11 Mar. 2021.

Critical Cataloguing

The following resources are gathered from American University Washington’s LibGuide on Critical Cataloguing:

• Classification Along the Color Line: Excavating Racism in the Stacks 
  Adler, Melissa. "Classification along the color line: Excavating racism in the stacks." Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, Jan. 2017, pp. 1-32. https://doi.org/10.24242/jclis.v1i1.17
• Race and Ethnicity in Classification Systems: Teaching Knowledge Organization from a Social Justice Perspective.
  Adler, Melissa and Harper, Lindsey M. "Race and Ethnicity in Classification Systems: Teaching Knowledge Organization from a Social Justice Perspective." Library Trends vol. 67, no.1, 2018, pp. 52-73.
• Change the Subject
  Change the Subject. Directed by Sawyer Broadley and Jill Baron, Dartmouth College, 2019.
• 'Priorities of arrangement’ or a ‘hierarchy of oppressions?’: Perspectives on intersectionality in knowledge organization
  Fox, Melodie J. "'Fox, Melodie J. "'Priorities of arrangement’ or a ‘hierarchy of oppressions?’: Perspectives on intersectionality in knowledge organization." Knowledge Organization, vol. 43, no. 5, 2016, pp. 373-383. ." Knowledge Organization, vol. 43, no. 5, 2016, pp. 373-383. 
• Dewey Deracialized: A Critical Race-Theoretic Perspective
  Furner, Jonathan. “Dewey Deracialized: A Critical Race-Theoretic Perspective.” Knowledge Organization, vol. 34, no. 3, 2007, pp. 144–68. 
• Totally Invisible: Asian American Representation in the Dewey Decimal Classification, 1876–1996
  Higgins, Molly. “Totally Invisible: Asian American Representation in the Dewey Decimal Classification, 1876–1996.” Knowledge Organization, vol.43, no. 8, 2016, pp. 609–621. 
• Browsing through Bias: The Library of Congress Classification and Subject Headings for African American Studies and LGBTQIA Studies
  Howard, Sarah A.and Knowlton, Steven A. "Browsing through Bias: The Library of Congress Classification and Subject Headings for African American Studies and LGBTQIA Studies." Library Trends, vol. 67, no. 1, 2018, pp. 74-88.
• Organization of Islamic Knowledge in Libraries: The Role of Classification Systems
  Idrees, Haroon. “Organization of Islamic Knowledge in Libraries: The Role of Classification Systems.” Library Philosophy and Practice, vol. 63, no. 3, May 2013, pp. 98-117.
• Three Decades since Prejudices and Antipathies: A Study of Changes in the Library of Congress Subject Headings
  Knowlton, Steven A. “Three Decades since Prejudices and Antipathies: A Study of Changes in the Library of Congress Subject Headings.” Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, vol. 40, no. 2, Aug. 2005, pp. 123–145. 
• Importing Hegemony: Library Information Systems and US Hegemony in Canada and Latin America
  McKennon, Ed. “Importing Hegemony: Library Information Systems and US Hegemony in Canada and Latin America.” Radical History Review, vol. 95, no. 95, 2006, pp. 45–69. 
• Mapping beyond Dewey’s Boundaries: Constructing Classificatory Space for Marginalized Knowledge Domains
  Olson, Hope A. “Mapping beyond Dewey’s Boundaries: Constructing Classificatory Space for Marginalized Knowledge Domains.” Library Trends, vol. 47, no. 2, Sept. 1998, pp. 233–54.
• The Power to Name: Representation in Library Catalogs
  Olson, Hope A. “The Power to Name: Representation in Library Catalogs.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 26, no. 3, Apr. 2001, pp. 639–68.