Kelley Flannery Rowan, Florida International UniversityFollow
Annia Gonzalez, Florida International University
This article explores the impetus, progress, and challenges encountered in developing and managing a library-wide decolonial metadata project at Florida International University (FIU) Libraries. The goal of this initiative is to develop inclusive metadata within our digital collections and finding aids that represent the communities we serve and to develop a metadata remediation plan that ameliorates the harm done by antiquated language. In thinking about the current metadata in our collections, we are engaging a post-colonial mindset that incorporates methods of coping with the ongoing oppression of vulnerable communities. In contrast, our metadata analysis and remediation process is focused on de-colonial analysis that actively engages us in revealing and dismantling the cultural vocabularies that maintain colonial power hierarchies. This article discusses these different approaches and shares the authors’ approach to evaluating digital collections.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kelley-rowan/17/