Metadata justice at the University of Oklahoma Libraries

Abstract

Members of ArchivesSpace have long been interested in work to identify and rectify systemic forms of prejudice that are built into our organizational systems and software. This work is not always easy to carry out directly within ArchivesSpace, but there are plenty of ways to approach the work which positively impact our ability to make ArchivesSpace more inclusive and useful for all of our users.

After a successful proposal to change the LCSH for the Tulsa Race Massacre from “Tulsa Race Riot” to the more currently used and accurate term “Tulsa Race Massacre,” a task force at the University of Oklahoma (OU) Libraries, which had formed around that initiative, determined that a more permanent group would be both a useful and essential way to continue this work in central Oklahoma. The Learning and Working Group on Metadata Justice formed out of that decision, and has since made significant headway on similar work, consulted with outside groups, and built foundational documents to ensure the continued success of the group’s initiatives into the future.