Skip to main content

The Decolonization of Arctic Library and Archives Metadata (DALAM) Thematic Network at the University of the Arctic

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Library and Information Sciences in Arctic and Northern Studies

Abstract

In 2022, the Polar Libraries Colloquy created a thematic network within the University of the Arctic thematic network’s structure to address the decolonization of metadata. Metadata, including archival description, subject headings, and other descriptive terminology, sometimes includes terms that are offensive to Indigenous peoples, incorrect, or too general to be useful. The purpose of the Decolonization of Arctic Library and Archives Metadata (DALAM) thematic network is to create an alliance of librarians, archivists, and other information professionals working in metadata decolonization. The network, provisionally approved in 2022, focuses on member education and information as well as resource sharing with the goal of improving efficiencies in circumpolar metadata decolonization efforts. This chapter details the creation of DALAM, its purpose, and its future activities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alaska Library Network (ALN). (2023). Alaska native subject headings grant project. https://bit.ly/40iY5tc. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Arctic Centre, University of Lapland. (n.d.). Arctic Indigenous peoples. http://bit.ly/3ZnfD6i. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Baxmeyer, J. W. (2022, June 1). Statement regarding the replacement of “Illegal aliens” in LCSH [Electronic mailing list message]. https://bit.ly/3JEdr4A. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Berman, S. (1995). When the subject is Indians. American Indian Libraries Newsletter, 18(2). http://bit.ly/3LPjEgD. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Berman, S. (2000, June). Finding material on “those people” (and their concerns) in library catalogs. MultiCultural Review, 26–52. https://bit.ly/40jqQWL. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Bosom, A., & Dunne, A. (2017). Implementing the Brian Deer Classification Scheme for Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute. Collection Management, 42(3/4), 280–293. https://doi.org/j34m

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowker, G. C., & Star, S. L. (2000). Sorting things out: Classification and its consequences. MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bullard, J., Watson, B., & Purdome, C. (2022). Misrepresentation in the surrogate: Author critiques of “Indians of North America” subject headings. Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, 60(6/7), 599–619. https://doi.org/j34n

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgess, J. T. F. (2015, March 4). Cognitive justice and the LIS curriculum [Webinar]. ALISEXChange.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, S. (2007, Fall). Report to the polar libraries colloquy on the University of the Arctic Council meeting held at Arkhangelsk, Russia, June 4–9, 2007. Polar Libraries Bulletin, 59, 7–8. https://bit.ly/3JGjJRc. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Campsie, A. (2021, October 18). Leading historian speaks out as National Library of Scotland rewrites ‘harmful’ colonial language. The Scotsman. https://bit.ly/3TOYj95. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee. (2022). Cataloguing code of ethics. http://bit.ly/3KjMlS1. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Cocq, C. (2021). Revisiting the digital humanities through the lens of Indigenous studies—or how to question the cultural blindness of our technologies and practices. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 73(2), 333–344. https://doi.org/gmkj9m

  • Chew, C. (2023). Inclusive Terminology Glossary. https://bit.ly/3U0hRt3. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Cull, I., Hancock, R. L. A., McKeown, S., Pidgeon, M., & Vedan, A. (2018). Pulling together: A guide for indigenization of post-secondary institutions. BC Campus. http://bit.ly/3K9PFPi. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duarte, M. E., & Belarde-Lewis, M. (2015). Imagining: Creating spaces for Indigenous ontologies. Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, 53(5/6), 677–702. https://doi.org/gghn2c

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fáktalávvu: Faktoja saamelaisista [Facts about the Sámi]. (2023). UKK [FAQ]. http://bit.ly/40k9cSN. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Farnel, S. (2021, September 14–15). Local, regional, national: Revising subject headings to respectfully represent Indigenous peoples in Canada [Conference paper]. Tarik Akan meetings 3: International language and meaning symposium, Istanbul, Türkiye.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frandy, T. (2015). Suden kaikki nimet: Sudet ja dekolonisaatio Saamenmaassa [All the names of the wolf: Wolves and decolonization in Saami]. In J. Hiedanpää & O. Ratamäki (Eds.), Suden kanssa [Within the Wolf] (pp. 42–65). Lapland University Press. http://bit.ly/3nh1NVD. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Gilbert, M., & Lane, H. (2008). Forty-five numbers for snow: A brief introduction to the UDC for polar libraries. Extensions and Corrections to the UDC, 30, 23–25. http://bit.ly/3JO0dCe. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, N. (2022). Controlled vocabulary and Indigenous terminology in Canadian Arctic legal research. In S. Acadia & M. T. Fjellestad (Eds.), Library and information studies for Arctic social sciences and humanities (pp. 110–132). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Institute for the Languages of Finland/Kotimaisten kielten keskus. (2022). Saamen kielille pysyvä kielenhuoltoelin [A permanent language maintenance body for the Sámi languages]. http://bit.ly/40jCh0D. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Littletree, S., & Metoyer, C. A. (2015). Knowledge organization from an Indigenous perspective: The Mashantucket Pequot Thesaurus of American Indian Terminology Project. Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, 53(5/6), 640–657. https://doi.org/gf2d7j

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mai, J.-E. (2016). Marginalization and exclusion: Unraveling systemic bias in classification. Knowledge Organization, 43(5), 324–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Library of Finland/Kansalliskirjasto. (n.d.). Saamelaiskielten tuki digitaalisissa palveluissa [Support for Sámi languages in digital services]. http://bit.ly/3Zh454v. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • National Library of Sweden/Kungliga biblioteket. (n.d.). Svenska ämnesord [Swedish subject words]. http://bit.ly/3FVAtD4. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Olson, H. A. (1999). Cultural discourses of classification: Indigenous alternatives to the tradition of Aristotle, Durkheim, and Foucault. Advances in Classification Research Online, 10(1), 107–124. http://bit.ly/3KaHOkI. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peers, E., Marsh, F., & Lund, P. (2020). Decolonising the SPRI library: Position paper. https://doi.org/j34t

  • Perera, T. (2022). Description specialists and inclusive description work and/or initiatives: An exploratory study. Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, 60(5), 355–386. https://doi.org/j34v

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portman, J. (2022, November 12). Messy past informs messy present: True reconciliation presents an inspiring blueprint for change. Edmonton Journal, B6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rigby, C. (2020, January 29–February 1). Promoting Indigenous language through descriptive cataloguing: Ten years+ of Nunavut experience. Ontario Library Association Super Conference, Toronto, ON, Canada. https://bit.ly/3FUQkBP. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Rigby, C. (2022). = Nunavummi Uqalimaagaqarvimmit Tikisaaksait = Nunavut’s library catalogues and the preservation and promotion of Inuit language materials. In S. Acadia & M. T. Fjellestad (Eds.), Library and information studies for Arctic social sciences and humanities (pp. 389–407). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandy, H. M., & Bossaller, J. (2017). Providing cognitively just subject access to Indigenous knowledge through knowledge organization systems. Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, 55(3), 129–152. https://doi.org/grfrxt

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steering Committee on Canada’s Archives/Comité directeur sur les archives canadiennes. (2022). Reconciliation framework: The response to the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Taskforce. https://bit.ly/3ZcrvYM. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • Styres, S. (2019). Literacies of land: Decolonizing narratives, storying, and literature. In L. T. Smith, E. Tuck, & K. W. Yang (Eds.), Indigenous and decolonizing studies in education: Mapping the long view (pp. 24–37). Routledge. https://doi.org/j34w

    Google Scholar 

  • Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada/Commission de vérité et réconciliation du Canada. (2015). Calls to action. https://bit.ly/3nOLc8D. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • United Nations. (2008). Declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples. https://bit.ly/3FSZ639. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • University of British Columbia Library. (2023). Indigenous librarianship: Brian Deer Classification System. http://bit.ly/3JNXxoa. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • University of the Arctic (UArctic). (2014, January 28). News: About UArctic. https://bit.ly/3Rcj79S. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • University of the Arctic (UArctic). (n.d.-a). Members. http://bit.ly/3TSx8dK. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • University of the Arctic (UArctic). (n.d.-b). north2north. https://bit.ly/46SoxMV. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • University of the Arctic (UArctic). (n.d.-c). Thematic network on decolonization of Arctic library and archives metadata. https://bit.ly/3FZDKBw. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

  • University of the Arctic (UArctic). (n.d.-d). Thematic networks and institutes. http://bit.ly/3FUZ0rL. Accessed 8 Dec 2023.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sharon Farnel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Farnel, S. et al. (2024). The Decolonization of Arctic Library and Archives Metadata (DALAM) Thematic Network at the University of the Arctic. In: Acadia, S. (eds) Library and Information Sciences in Arctic and Northern Studies. Springer Polar Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54715-7_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics