CERL Online event on Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity

This online event took place on 27 January 2022.

Libraries are in and of the communities in which they exist. Conversations that take place in society are reflected and even taken forward by work done in libraries. These last years, the topics of Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity are among those addressed by librarians.

All areas of a library organisation are impacted, from our hiring and staffing practices, our assumptions about the audiences for our collections, what we think we know about the origins of our collections and perhaps the gaping holes in those collections, to the language we use to describe and present items we curate.

During this online event, we heard about the impact of these discussions on the Iconclass overhaul. Representatives from the British Library, the Royal Library in Sweden and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington described how they related to these topics, how it changed way they catalogue and present their collections, and what was the continued impact on their organisations. After the presentations, we discussed these issues in more detail with the panelists.

Programme

Lars Ilshammar is Deputy National Librarian and head of the Department of Management Support at the National Library of Sweden. He is also a member of IFLA's Standing Committee on National Libraries
Recording of the presentation 'Sensitive Collections'
Powerpoint slides
Draft Policy 27 January 2022

Xerxes Mazda is Head of Collections and Curation at the British Library

Duo presentation with

Alan Danskin, Metadata Standards Manager, British Library
Recording of the presentation 'Challenging legacies: Making the British Library's collections and metadata more inclusive'
Powerpoint slides

Hans Brandhorst, art historian (Leiden University), has published on illuminated manuscripts, emblems and devices, iconography and classification, and digital humanities. Editor of the Iconclass system and Arkyves
Recording of the presentation 'Revising Iconclass - some practical issues'
Powerpoint slides

Kathleen Lynch, Executive Director, Folger Institute, Folger Shakespeare Library
Recording of the presentation 'Bringing our audiences in to discussions of race and the archive'
Powerpoint slides

Q&A



CERL has created a webpage around the topic of Cultural Property. At the bottom of this page is a start of a reading list around these topics. If you have further recommended reading, Marian Lefferts (marian.lefferts@cerl.org) would be happy to hear from you.