How to Describe a Massacre? A Collaborative Metadata Justice Project

Abstract

Throughout the summer of 2020 and into the following fall, a cross-unit working group at the University of Oklahoma Libraries worked to compile and submit a proposal to change the Library of Congress Subject Heading from “Tulsa Race Riot, Tulsa, Okla., 1921” to “Tulsa Race Massacre, Tulsa, Okla., 1921.” The working group situated their work in the context of the metadata justice movement, which seeks to correct problematic descriptions. This proposal can also be seen as part of the broader work undertaken over many decades by Tulsa activists and community leaders.This successful proposal required working group members to work across library departments; learn about a broad range of library processes, including the complicated process of submitting a proposal within the Subject Authority Cooperative Program; and conduct significant research into the Tulsa Race Massacre and the language currently used to refer to it in varied settings. This ad-hoc working group also led to the formation of a permanent working group devoted to analyzing local descriptive practices and other Library of Congress subject headings in an effort to correct problematic descriptions and create new and accurate descriptions, and learning about issues related to metadata justice and critical cataloging.